


To the Stars Through Adversity

by padmesskywalkers



Series: Mission Starlight [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Compliant, F/M, Fix-It, Fluff and Angst, Post-TRoS, To An Extent, World Between Worlds, i wouldn't have had to write this if jj hadn't royally screwed up, i'm taking liberties, including impregnating one half of a dyad bc Plot, ngl it's gonna get pretty fluffy, once we're past the angst, sorry if you're looking for ben solo right away this ain't it, the Force works in mysterious ways
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:14:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 52,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21935785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/padmesskywalkers/pseuds/padmesskywalkers
Summary: Fourteen years ago, Rey lost the other half of her soul, Ben Solo.Thirteen years ago, Rey gave birth to a little girl with dark curly hair and Skywalker blue eyes.Yesterday, Corona Solo heard the voice of her father for the first time.-~-In which Ben Solo is stuck in the World Between Worlds, Cora vows to find her father, and Rey worries about them both.
Relationships: Rey & Ben Solo, Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: Mission Starlight [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1583287
Comments: 77
Kudos: 175





	1. C O R A

**Author's Note:**

> okay so like, obviously i have some issues with tros since i'm writing this. i was hoping to be able to write fluffy fanfic after episode ix, but uh i kinda need ben solo ALIVE to do that :))))) i started on this a day after i saw the movie, and i've been brainstorming constantly, but i needed to get this first chapter out, so here we are. let me know what you think or if this is even worth continuing!

Cora Solo has been trying to ignore the whispers. She tells herself that they’re nothing, that ancient voices shouldn’t concern her. She can’t tell her mother, because Rey Skywalker would worry about her. All her life, Cora has been cutting herself off from the Force, so much so that the whispers are all that remain of that mystical power. She does this for her mother’s sake, because Rey cut herself off from the Force following the death of Cora’s father. They don’t talk about Ben Solo much. Cora wishes she knew more about her father, other than that her mother and he shared a bond in the Force and that in the end he saved her.

Her mother made a point of telling her that opening herself to the Force would only lead to pain. She didn’t elaborate, but Cora had a sneaking suspicion it had to do with that bond with her father. While her mother prevented her from learning the ways of the Force, Cora took it upon herself to read the texts of the Jedi that her mother had stored away in a cabinet in her room. There wasn’t much written on bonds bridged through the Force, but one that stood out to Cora is that the bonds never go away, no matter how suppressed, and when one half of the bond dies it’s like an emptiness that would never be filled.

So Cora abides by her mother’s wishes, because if what she read is true, her mother was only trying to block out the immeasurable pain she would feel if she left herself open to the Force. And Cora loves her mother, so she stifles her abilities, stomping out the flames of her curiosity with them.

Unfortunately, never having learned to control what she feels deep in her soul, firmly rooted there since birth, Cora does not know how to keep the whispers at bay.

_She bares her heart openly, just as he did._

_Truly remarkable, she is. Conceived of the Force the child was, yes, Ben Solo giving all of himself in return._

She wants nothing more than for all of it to just _stop_. She doesn’t want to know about her father from voices she doesn’t even know, whom she isn’t certain are telling the truth about her father. Despite this, Cora relishes in the fact that she possibly carries her father in her. She’s always known she takes after her mother in many ways, but Cora has felt the phantom presence of someone missing from her life for as long as she can remember, and at times it’s easy to forget she has a father at all, so knowing that there are parts of her that come from him is a comfort she’s always longed for.

Tatooine is a lonely planet, and the moisture farm she lives on is even lonelier, so she does her best to keep busy. In the mornings, she works on the farm, and in the afternoons, she practices her studies. Nighttime is Cora’s favorite time, though, because she gets to spend it with her mum. Cora has a few friends that she meets with whenever she and her mother travel into Mos Eisley, but for so long it’s just been Cora and her mum, and she can’t imagine having a deeper connection with anyone else.

As the twin suns set over the horizon, Cora anticipates the call of her mother to come to supper, eagerly packing away her stationary, careful not to spill the ink of her calligraphy set. Bounding into the dining room, she narrowly avoids a collision with BB-8, the droid launching into a lengthy lecture about not running through the house.

“Sorry, BB-8,” she says, abashed at her reckless behavior. The droid beeps his acceptance of her apology, throwing in a remark about slowing down every once in awhile. Cora rolls her eyes but goes along with it. “Yeah, yeah, I know, get my head out of the clouds and focus on my feet on the ground. You’re not the first one to tell me this.” She chuckles, rubbing his head affectionately.

“Cora?” Rey Skywalker rounds the corner, finding her daughter already seated at the small table made for two. Her smile is always sad, Cora thinks, but she’s always happiest when they’re together.

Her mum places the simple meal on the table, and the two converse over dinner, Cora excitedly sharing what she read today on her datapad of the holorecords on the New Republic.

“And Grandmother Leia was in it!” she gushes, elbows on the table and her face falling into her hands. Her bright eyes dim a little. “I wish I could’ve met her,” she sighs.

“She would’ve loved you,” her mum offers softly. Cora hums at that, her eyes slipping shut in content.

“Would dad have loved me?” she muses. It takes a moment for her to realize just what she’s asked, her eyes snapping open to gauge her mother’s expression. Rey’s face is ashen, and she looks like she’s going to be sick. Cora tries to backpedal, though she’s unsure how much good it does. “I’m sorry, I know how hard it is for you to talk about him. I didn’t mean to reopen old wounds.”

Her mum clears her throat, shaking her head absentmindedly. “No, no, it’s my fault for not telling you more about him. No matter how I feel, I never want you to not know your family.” She pauses, sucking in a shuddering breath. Finally she looks up, eyes steeled with forced resolution. “Your father would have given anything for a family that he could love. He was so full of hope when he brought me back, his eyes shining with a light I’d been searching for in him for so long.” Cora can barely breathe. This is the most her mother’s spoken of her father in ages. Rey’s eyes soften as she brushes Cora’s face with the backs of her fingers. “So yes, my darling, your father would’ve loved you so much.”

Cora grasps her mother’s hand, smiling in the hopes of lightening the mood. “Selfishly, I wish he was here, but I know that what the two of us have has always been enough for me, and I think he would be happy that we have each other.”

Her mother gently brushes Cora’s hair out of her face, her lips forming the beginning of a smile. “Corona Solo, you are the light of my life, and I don’t want you to ever forget that.” Cora’s eyes well with tears, moving around the table to throw her hands around her mother.

“I love you, Mum,” she whispers, a vow, a promise.

-

Tonight, Cora hears a new voice.

She’s dreaming, as she always does. Even though she suppresses the Force, she can’t stop the dreams. This time, she sees an island.

_I see it. I see the island._

It’s green, and calm, and entirely unlike the harsh sands of Tatooine. There’s an outcropping of rocks, and the deeper she goes she finds that it’s a temple. _A Jedi temple_ , her subconscious thinks. It takes her a moment to realize that she’s physically _in_ the temple, and in her hand rests the hilt of a lightsaber, its green blade a comforting hum. Cora’s eyes widen in surprise. She’s never seen a lightsaber ignited before, not even her mother’s, which sits on a shelf, untouched and ready for its next use.

She explores the temple a bit longer before going outside to see the vast sea surrounding the island.

_You imagine an ocean._

Cora blinks, unsure where the voice came from. She whips her head around, but she’s alone, just as she’s always been. She shakes her head, the voice pushed from her mind, continuing down the slope toward the shore.

But then there’s a presence, a _force_ , that draws her back toward the center of the island. It’s dark, and it’s cold, and Cora has never felt so alone in her whole life.

_You’re so lonely . . . so afraid to leave . . ._

Her whole body is trembling as she peers into the darkness. The voice continues, seductive and enticing in its effort to pull her in.

_Don’t be afraid. I feel it, too._

“Get out of my head!” she screams, her throat raw and choking as the darkness threatens to take her under. It’s impossible to tell when she stops screaming, but she doesn’t know what will happen if she does.

Arms encircle her, and Cora is grounded once again, her screams subsiding into sobs. Her mum caresses her arms, holding her daughter in a warm embrace. Cora sniffles, clinging to her mother tighter.

“What was that?” she breathes, barely able to get the words out. She turns her head to look at her mother, the older woman’s eyes gazing at the girl sadly.

“It was just a dream, love,” she soothes, softly petting her daughter’s head. Cora shakes her head, pushing her mother away.

“No,” she says, voice unwavering and hard. “That was real. I’ve seen that place before.” She paces, distracted. “And that voice . . . I know that voice. I’ve never heard it before tonight, but it felt like . . .” she trails off, looking back at her mum. “Home,” she finishes. Cora shakes her head, disregarding the thought. “But that’s impossible. A voice from the dark can’t make me feel safe, right, Mum?”

Instead of answering, she asks, face pale and eyes wide, alternating between fear and hope, “What did it promise you?”

Confused, Cora answers, “Nothing. It just told me not to be afraid, that it felt the same as me.”

“Don’t be afraid. I feel it, too,” her mum whispers, and Cora’s eyes widen in shock.

“How do you . . . ?” Uncertainty fades to understanding. “You know the voice in my head.” It’s not a question, and her mum doesn’t try to deny it. Cora’s eyes narrow, her arms folding over her chest. “I need to know, mum.”

Rey sighs, her resolve crumbling. “There’s some things I need to tell you first, then.”

-

Cora sits on a sand dune, watching the twin suns rise over the planet. She can’t seem to focus, her mind running a million parsecs a minute. Her thoughts stray to her conversation with her mother.

_That voice . . . that was the voice of your father. Those words were spoken to me the day we met._

Cora collects a handful of sand, letting it sift through her fingers and back to the ground. She forces herself to stand, her legs carrying her anywhere to put space between her and her mother.

_The circumstances of our meeting were not as innocent as I’ve had you believe, though. I was his prisoner._

Cora ends up in the cockpit of her grandfather’s ship. The ship hasn’t been used in a while, the controls having a fine layer of dust over them. Idly, Cora wonders if her father ever sat here, and she flinches at the thought.

_Your father was a part of the First Order, right hand of Supreme Leader Snoke, heir apparent to Darth Vader, Kylo Ren, Master of the Knights of Ren._

Cora slams her hand against the console, and the dust dances around her. She can no longer fight the tears, and they seem to stream in rivers down her cheeks. For the first time in her life, Cora opens herself to the Force. At first she’s consumed with fear, but after a moment it feels as though it’s the first breath she’s ever taken, almost like it’s been waiting for her to wake up, and it hums around her as if to say, _Oh, there you are._

Immediately, she’s flooded with feelings and sensations and _voices_ , the voice of her father - Ben Solo, _not_ Kylo Ren - heard above all else.

_I’ll come back for you, sweetheart. I promise._

She doesn’t know whether these words are for her or were for her mother, but they comfort her all the same, and Cora latches on to that voice, begging it to stay.

_Be with me_ , she pleads. She waits a beat. Two, three. And then it responds.

_I’m right here._


	2. R E Y

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey didn't think she'd have to reflect on her past again, but her daughter is seemingly giving her no choice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi all! hope you had a wonderful christmas :) i actually finished this in the wee hours of christmas morning, but i needed to read over it again before posting, but here's part two! i know you're all probably anxious to get to ben (i am too) but hang in there!! he will be making his introduction soon!! (of course we still have a ways to go before he's reunited with rey and cora.)

Rey Skywalker absentmindedly twirls her lightsaber as she worries about her daughter. She knows Cora is angry with her, as she has every right to be. But she’s only thirteen, and how was Rey supposed to know the right time to tell her the truth about her family’s past? She never had parents to look up to, and she was doing her best with Cora.

When Rey found herself pregnant two months after the Battle of Exegol, she was dumbfounded. She had never had sexual relations with a man, and the only man she’d ever loved had faded from her arms, ceasing to exist. She sought guidance from the Force, but deep down she felt it. Ben Solo had transferred his life force to her, all of it, too much of it, and in doing so had left her with more of himself than he intended.

She hadn’t known what to do, helplessly asking for guidance from Maz Kanata, perhaps the one person who wouldn’t judge her. Maz had looked at her with patient eyes, letting Rey know that her relationship with Ben Solo was not something to be ashamed of. Rey knew Maz was trying to push her to tell her friends, but Maz made it clear that Rey could decide whatever she thought best for herself.

Eventually, she did tell her friends, starting with Finn. At first, he had been angry, but ultimately he told her he’d stand by her through her decisions. Poe had been harder to get around to the idea that she was pregnant with the former Supreme Leader’s child. The pilot was stubborn, but he could see Rey was hurting, so even he set down his pride in favor of supporting her. Rose had been the only one that was immediately excited.

“You’re going to have a baby? Oh, that’s so wonderful, Rey!” she’d gushed, and for the first time it _did_ feel wonderful. It had taken some time for her to realize the implications of her situation. Maybe Ben truly was gone, but he’d left her a gift of himself, so perhaps there was still something worth living for.

And every day with Cora is a blessing. Her daughter is a beacon of light in an unforgiving world, and Rey would cross the galaxy for her. The first time Cora had blinked her startlingly blue eyes at her mother, Rey had been shocked. Maybe this was the Force’s humorous attempt at reminding her that her daughter was a Skywalker, Cora’s eyes matching those of Luke Skywalker and, as she had learned, Anakin Skywalker, but Rey had just assumed the child would have her or Ben’s eyes. She had Rey’s chestnut brown hair, and as she grew older, the length of her hair increased, the wispy strands filling out into full curls. The more Cora grew, the more Rey could see Ben in her. Once, Rey had been watching her dance around in the fading suns’ light, and Cora had twirled to face her mother, a wide grin splitting across her face, and Rey’s heart had skipped a beat, for her daughter had the same smile as her father, all dimples and innocence.

Now, Rey would give anything for that smile. She knows Cora needs to blow off steam, because she’s hot-headed in the same way Rey is, but still Rey worries. Cora has always had an idealized version of her father, and Rey could argue that what Cora believed was true, though the problem was that she only knew the best of him, so Rey revealing everything was bound to have a negative effect. Selfishly, Rey wishes that Cora didn’t know the truth, because even if no one else loved him, she knew she could count on her daughter loving Ben Solo.

Rey stops fidgeting with her lightsaber, her eyes trained on the hilt, or rather, the kyber crystal that rests inside. _Ben’s crystal_ , salvaged from the ocean on Kef Bir and purified into what it is now. Maybe she shouldn’t have clung so hard to every material piece of Ben she could, but at the time she didn’t care. All she could feel was the hollowness in her soul, and she was desperate to find a way to fill it.

For the most part, Cora fills that void, but Rey knows that she can’t keep her daughter to herself forever. Rey is no longer the naive scavenger from Jakku. She recognizes the longing in Cora’s eyes every time a ship flies over her head. She knows Cora wants to see the galaxy. At one point, Rey did, too.

Now, she craves the simple life she has, cut off from the Force and anything that can hurt her.

But she realizes now that it was wrong of her to deny Cora of being wholly herself. When she’d tapped into the Force last night, to see what Cora had seen, it had been a comfort before she had felt the ache that always follows.

For the first year following the war, Rey had continued her training in the Force, partially to feel the child in her womb and partially to see if she could feel Ben. Ultimately, it had been a fool’s hope, because the only thing Rey ever found was memories, and the memories never gave way to anything else.

_You once told me I wasn’t alone!_ she’d screamed down the bond that had been dormant for months. 

_You’re not alone,_ the memory of Ben had answered.

_Yes, I am! You left me alone! Why did you leave me alone?_ she’d raged at the ghost. Softer, reluctantly, she’d admitted, _I can’t do this alone._

Ben didn’t answer, of course, because he wasn’t really there. Instead he’d smiled at her the way he had right before he died, and that’s when Rey decided she couldn’t keep doing this. As much as it pained her, she had to move on, the best she could, anyway. Eventually, she’d come to terms with the fact that she was never going to see Ben again, and she’d poured all of her focus into their child, the last living reminder of Ben Solo.

Rey closes her eyes, breathes in deep, and forces herself to rise. Her steps toward the desert are halted as Cora rushes through the entryway, her eyes wide and face pale, so much so that Rey can count the freckles on her nose and cheeks.

“Mum,” she breathes, her shoulders relaxing as she says this. “I think . . . I don’t know . . . it’s all a little bit unclear . . . but I . . . I think I spoke to Dad.”

-

Once Cora has calmed down, she tells her mother what happened when she reached out. Rey frowns, not wanting to get her hopes up again. Reluctantly, she opens herself to the Force once more, probing Cora’s mind, searching the girl’s memory. After locating the memory of Cora alone in the _Falcon_ , Rey goes deeper.

_Be with me_ , Cora’s mind pleads, and Rey’s heart breaks, unable to count the amount of times she’s whispered that into the Force.

But then a voice answers. _I’m right here_. Rey’s blood pounds in her ears. It’s impossible. Fourteen years she’s waited for a sign from him, and every time she’s been disappointed. But there’s no denying it. That’s Ben Solo’s voice.

Rey surfaces back to her body, her eyes shooting open and staring into her daughter’s curious ones. “How did you do that, Cora? How did you speak to him?”

Cora looks away, unsure of herself. “I don’t know. I was just so angry and frustrated and lonely. Then I heard his voice. And I just wanted him to comfort me. I didn’t think he’d actually answer.” She nervously tugs on her curls, her eyes frightened of upsetting her mother. “But, Mum, what if he’s really out there somewhere? What if all of my suppressed Force abilities surged out to some far end of the galaxy and he found me? What if . . . what if he needs help?”

Rey doesn’t want to discourage her daughter - really, she doesn’t - but she herself has wondered enough over the years for her to know that this will only bring more pain. She brushes her daughter’s face, attempting to soothe her. “Cora, darling, I don’t want you to get your hopes up. I’ve wondered plenty of times if there was some way for me to reach him, some way to bring him back, but there isn’t, love. He’s just not out there.”

Cora’s eyes water, unbidden rage behind them. “But he _spoke_ to me, Mum! I reached out and he _answered_!”

Rey rubs her brow, feeling a headache coming on. “Why now, then? Why hasn’t he ever answered me? We share a _soul_ , and he’s never once tried to reach me! I’m sorry, Cora, but you need to stop being delusional.” She knows her words are harsh, but she’s been holding her emotions back for so long.

“Fine,” the last Skywalker snaps at her. “If you won’t help me, I’ll find him myself.”

-

Rey doesn’t take Cora’s outburst seriously. This isn’t the first time they’ve fought, and it certainly hasn’t been the worst, so she knows Cora will get over it.

At least, she thinks she will.

That is, until she hears the engine of the _Falcon_ start up.

Then Rey is running at top speed to stop her daughter from going on a quest that will lead to nowhere. But it’s too late. She’s just passing through the front of the domed house as the _Falcon_ blips into hyperspace.

It takes Rey a moment to realize three things. One, her droid is missing. Two, her ship is thousands of parsecs away. Three, her daughter is on said ship on a mission to find her dead father.

She curses, mad at herself for not listening to her daughter’s inner turmoil. She knows she gets defensive and isolates herself whenever someone tries to talk to her about Ben. It’s what she learned to do after the pain became too much. But now she’s been forced to think about Ben more in the last day than she has in the last few years. Yes, she couldn’t possibly ever forget him or what he was to her, particularly because of the child they share, but she’s gotten good at only thinking of him fondly or in passing. Cora’s newfound interest in knowing her father forced Rey to revisit her past, and in doing so brought up feelings deep buried.

Hearing his voice, though . . . hearing something _new_ from him, Rey felt the smallest tug on the bond that bridged their minds. She knew that didn’t make sense, but did anything that had to do with the Force ever make sense? _This_ is why she shut the Force out for so long, all its tricks and falsities taking a mental toll on her. Even with all the Jedi in her, Rey still had trouble making sense of it.

Unfortunately, with Cora in places unknown to her, Rey needs the Force again, in a way she hasn’t needed it in a long time. After locating her datapad, she sends out a message to Finn, detailing what she knows about Cora’s disappearance and that she needs him to pick her up on Tatooine so that she can locate her daughter. Almost instantly she has a reply, and she snorts at the sarcasm in it.

_I don’t see you for a year, and now you need me to save your ass? I guess I can fit you into my incredibly busy schedule._

All she has to do now is wait, and if there’s one thing Rey’s familiar with, it’s waiting.

-

Finn arrives the next day aboard a small fighter ship. As he walks down the ramp, Rey raises an eyebrow at him, arms crossed over her chest. He looks at her incredulously.

“What?” he asks defensively. She gives him a flat look.

“You needn’t have bothered with a military ship. I just need to find Cora and bring her back home,” she says. Finn looks her over dubiously.

“Rey,” he sighs. “You can’t keep hiding out here. You can’t keep _Cora_ here. Bringing her back here isn’t going to fix anything. She’s going to resent you for it.”

Rey narrows her eyes at him. “I’m only trying to protect her.” Finn doesn’t look convinced.

“You know, what you’re doing to Cora sounds a whole awful lot like what Chewie said Han and Leia did to Ben,” he comments.

“This is nothing like that!” she snaps. Finn doesn’t respond, but Rey can see the judgment in his eyes. She deflates a little. “I’m not trying to push her away. I just don’t want her to live a life like mine.”

“Everyone gets hurt, Rey. That’s not exclusive to you. You’re also not the first parent to worry about their kid. Hell, I had to leave my kids to help you get yours back, but I know Zellen and Kaye are fine at home. Cora wanted more freedom, and when you weren’t willing to give it to her, she took it for herself.” Finn’s eyes soften when he notices Rey’s vulnerable stance, squeezing her shoulder in reassurance. “She’s stronger than you think, Rey. She gets that from you.” Rey nods, finally following him onto the ship. 

She wishes she hadn’t dismissed Cora so quickly. She wishes a lot of things, but right now she just wishes she had her daughter back. Of all the things in her life that have gone wrong, this feels like the one she can make right.


	3. C O R A

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cora arrives on the homeworld of her father, but she ends up with more trouble than she bargained for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> didn't think i'd be writing this fast, but here we are. i wanted to get this out before i leave for work, so i hustled to the finish line :) i'll be writing some more when i get home, but i hope this tides you over!!

Cora has to admit, she really didn’t think she had it in herself to steal the _Falcon_. Yet here she is, lightyears away from Tatooine, course set for Chandrila, homeworld of her father. 

Truthfully, she has no plan, but she’s hoping something in Chandrila clues her in to the whereabouts of her father. For all of her mother’s faults, she did share random details about Cora’s father, such as his birthplace being Chandrila and that he spent roughly the first ten years of his life there. He died when he was thirty, so, Cora reasons, visiting the place he spent one third of his life should help her in her search.

Cora has been in hyperspace for a full day, and already she is agonizingly bored. Staring out at the stars streaking by, she switches the controls to autopilot and drags her feet out through the main corridor and into the main hold, slumping down at the gaming table and dropping her head onto it. There’s a few minutes of peaceful silence before cheerful beeping stirs her. Cora picks her head up, only to come face to face with an orange and white BB unit. Her eyes widen in surprise as she startles to her feet.

“BB-8!” she exclaims. “You can’t be here! Mum is already going to be mad enough with me. I don’t need her to think I dragged you along, too.” Cora nervously bites her lip and tugs on her curls, frantically pacing around the floor.

BB-8 beeps a remark that she shouldn’t be there either, but it’s a bit too late for that. Pausing her steps, she stops to glare at the droid.

“You’re not the one who’s going to have to answer for all this!” she snaps, each word punctuated to emphasize the seriousness of the situation.

Her mother’s doid looks at her for another moment before responding. Cora drops her shoulders at his reply. He’s wondering why she even left in the first place, then.

“Because I need to find my father,” she answers, and BB-8’s warning beeps let her know she’s about to get an earful. He recounts all the facts that she already knows: her father is dead - he died to bring back her mother; he became one with the Force, his body vanishing from this universe; he gave all of his life force to Rey, accidentally creating Cora in the process. It’s when he continues that Cora looks at him with surprise. _Your father lives in you, because you were made from his life force._ Well, she supposes she hadn’t known that.

“Maybe that’s how I was able to reach him. If my life force is tied to his, then perhaps he really _is_ out there!” she says, more to herself than the droid. BB-8 beeps his reply, halting Cora’s train of thought.

_By that logic, your mother should also be able to reach him, since most of her life force is intertwined with his._ Cora considers this, but ultimately she decides against it, shaking her head.

“No, I don’t think so. Mum has been closing herself off from the Force since I was born. Even when she lets it in, it’s only to an extent. She still blocks most of it out because she has a wound in the Force, and she doesn’t want to hurt like that again.” BB-8 beeps sadly at this, acknowledging its likely truth. Cora sits back down, contemplating the droid. “I _do_ believe Mum could hear him, but only if she opens herself up enough. If my father is out there - and he _is_ , I just know it - he’s weak, and there’s no way he could break through Mother’s barriers in his state.”

Searching her feelings, Cora can feel her mother’s distress, proving her theory about her mother’s pain, but there, almost imperceptible, is a flickering presence floating peacefully through a world she cannot see. Eyes still closed, Cora smiles, reaching out to that presence and gently embracing it. The presence jumps at the contact, but the familiarity of it causes the presence to accept the comfort.

When Cora opens her eyes, she still feels the phantom hug.

-

In total, it takes Cora three days to reach Chandrila. She’s never been to Chandrila, so she isn’t entirely sure what to expect, but she _has_ been to Coruscant and Brentaal, both of which are Core Worlds, which prepares her somewhat for the bustling speedways and dazzling lights of Hanna City. Still, Chandrila has a different atmosphere than Coruscant, which gives off an air that anyone can live there despite being considered home of the wealthy. Here, it feels like she has to _be_ somebody in order to fit in. If the name Corona Solo doesn’t make her a somebody, she suspects nothing will.

Landing in a field outside the city, Cora gathers the few belongings she’s taking into the city with her. Opening a hatch in the crew quarters, she delicately picks up the neatly tied parcel with two weapons, unwrapping it to reveal two lightsabers.

BB-8 beeps at her accusingly, startling her out of her daze. She shakes her head at him.

“I didn’t steal them. They called to me when I stormed away from Mother. Say what you want, but I’m not as naive as you seem to think. I know this mission could be dangerous. I want to be prepared for anything, and having a lightsaber or two helps my chances of survival,” she explains as she pulls back her hair, tying it at the back of her head. BB-8 beeps at her doubtfully, but she rolls her eyes at him. “If you don’t want to see me get hurt, then you can stay with the ship.” He beeps in protest, making it clear that he’s not letting her go alone. “Very well, then. It’s settled. We’ll head into Hanna City and see if we can find anything on my father.”

The pair made up of the girl and the droid descend the ramp of the _Falcon_ , closing it before looking toward the city. With a bravado she definitely isn’t feeling, Cora starts walking, BB-8 following faithfully at her heals.

It takes about an hour, but Cora finally reaches the towering structures that make up Hanna City. She turns to BB-8 and says, “We need to rent a speeder if we want to accomplish anything.” He beeps a snarky reply, asking her just how she plans on renting anything without any credits. She grins at him. “You do know I make a wage, right? Mum is a lot of things, but she isn’t unfair. She transfers credits into my account for the work I do on the farm and for helping her sell the harvest in Mos Eisley. But since I live on a farm and Mum pays for my existence, I haven’t had much use for the money. Guess I’ve just been waiting for the right opportunity.” She winks at him, and he bristles, causing her to snort.

They look for speeder rentals, almost giving up until BB-8 informs her that there’s one around the corner. Cora lets out a disbelieving laugh in excitement. Finally, they’re getting somewhere!

-

They are not, in fact, getting somewhere.

When Cora and BB-8 reach the rental establishment, the owner looks at her and scoffs. “Go away, kid,” he dismisses. She narrows her eyes, baffled at the treatment.

“I didn’t even tell you what I need yet,” she says, incredulous. He looks her over again and shakes his head.

“Don’t have to. I don’t rent to kids that are just gonna wreck my speeders,” he tells her and adds as an afterthought, “Not to mention I doubt you could pay.”

Cora crosses her arms over her chest. “Credits are not an issue, if that’s what’s holding you back.” Her eyes shoot daggers at him, determined. “I need a speeder, and you’re going to lend me one.” Abruptly, the man straightens, staring at her blankly.

“I’m going to lend you a speeder now. Pick whichever one you want.” He gestures to the lot with a variety of speeders. Cora surveys the speeders, her eyes zeroing in on a modern chrome model with an ivory interior, and turns back to the owner, a smile now lighting up her face.

“I’ll take the modern one over there, please. It’s very kind of you to rent to me,” she says, oblivious to her use of the Force. The owner nods absently, pulling out his datapad and drawing up the form to complete the transaction. Cora taps her datacard to the screen, the datapad dinging in approval. She bids the owner farewell and zips away in the newly acquired speeder with BB-8 beside her.

Pleased with herself, the Force sensitive teen chatters on with BB-8 happily. “I was thinking we’d try a records archive to find the home my father grew up in and go from there,” she says, and BB-8 beeps his assent. She asks him to look up directions to the nearest archive library with the speeder’s navigational system. He chirps happily, and for the first time Cora feels truly good about this. At first she wasn’t sure she would get anywhere on her own, but now she knows all she needs is the confidence to make people take her seriously.

This confidence surrounds her as she walks up to the library desk. The woman looks at her curiously.

“Hello, dear, how may I help you?” she asks a bit unsurely, but Cora only smiles at her brightly. Bewildered, the woman smiles back hesitantly.

“I was hoping to use your records archive. I’m looking for my family’s former place of residence,” she informs her. The woman nods, accepting Cora’s explanation.

“Of course. You can sit at any terminal and find what you’re looking for by searching the family name,” she says, motioning with her hand to the plethora of holos beyond the front desk. Cora nods gratefully.

“Thank you, ma’am. Have a lovely day!” she replies, already walking away, BB-8 rolling behind her.

Sitting down in front of an open terminal, Cora types _Solo_ into the screen. The only things she finds are articles about the birth about Han Solo and Leia Organa’s son. Remembering her grandmother used the name Organa for her professional career, she enters _Organa_ into a new search. This yields more results, including the address of an apartment still owned by Senator Leia Organa. Cora grins at her luck. She quickly copies the address to BB-8’s databank before logging off and rushing out of the library.

Now on their way uptown, Cora wonders what she’ll see when she gets there. For so long, she’s imagined the kind of life her father led, and now that she’s so close to finding out she’s terrified. She knows Ben Solo is her father, but she still doesn’t _know_ Ben Solo. Once the door is opened, there’s no going back.

-

Apparently, the door is a lot harder to open than she anticipated. Cora groans in frustration as the door rejects another one of BB-8’s codes.

“We’re never going to get in, BB-8!” she sulks dejectedly. BB-8 doesn’t respond, continuing to probe the lock. Cora turns away, unable to see another failed attempt. When she turns toward the city, she sees two people on the landing next hers trying to open a door. Idly, she wonders if she’s not the only one on a quest. Then their door dings and hisses open. Cora blinks in shock. She whips her head back to BB-8 to see if he saw what just happened, but he’s still poking at the lock. She walks back over, unsure if she should recount what she saw.

Ultimately, she gives in and tells him. “BB-8, two people just broke into the apartment next to ours. Do you think they could get our door open?” BB-8 beeps his disapproval as she walks closer to the railing.

“Oi!” she calls out as the pair emerges. They freeze, slowly meeting her gaze. “Do you think you can open my door, too?” The two relax, realizing she’s not going to turn them in.

The taller one, the boy, responds to her. “Uh, sure, we’ll be right over.” He whispers to his companion, a girl with the longest blonde hair Cora’s ever seen. The girl nods, and they hop in their speeder park it next to Cora’s. When the pair walks up, the boy speaks again.

“All right, so we decided we would help you, but only if we get half the credits.” He says these words, but Cora is immensely confused, furrowing her brow.

“Whatever do you mean?” she queries. The boy frowns, unsure about what she doesn’t get, but the girl picks up the explanation.

“You know, whatever you find in there to sell, we want half the cut.”

Cora’s eyes widen in surprise. “Oh! Oh, no, I’m awfully sorry! I’m afraid there’s been a misunderstanding. I’m not robbing this apartment. I just need to get in. My grandmother owns this apartment - well, she’s dead, and so is my father, so I guess technically it belongs to - ”

The girls interrupts, cutting her off. “If you don’t take anything from this place, we will.”

Cora’s eyes narrow in anger. “Like hell you will! I didn’t travel across the galaxy just to be stopped by some petty thieves!” she seethes. The boy’s lips quirk up into a half smile, his eyebrow raising in amusement.

“Petty?” he laughs. Cora’s glare intensifies.

“Yes! I know your type; there’s some of you in every corner of the galaxy.” She pinches the bridge of her nose, attempting to collect herself. “If you don’t mind putting aside your thieving for ten minutes, I really need to open this door,” she says, tone as civil as possible. The girl shrugs.

“Fine, but if we’re doing this for you, I want to see what the big deal is. We’re going in with you,” she decides. Cora sighs in relief, appeased by this.

“All right. I suppose it’s no different to me if you go inside,” she relents. BB-8 beeps at her angrily, and Cora blinks. She almost forgot he was with her. He blares at her that he has a bad feeling about this, but Cora shakes him off. “Relax, BB-8. Everything’s going to be fine.” She pats his head reassuringly, but he rolls away from her.

The girl pulls a device from her pocket and jams it into the control panel, twisting it until the code is bypassed and the door groans open. Cora holds her breath, unsure what to expect, but the open doorway reveals a normal, if a bit lavish, apartment. A tad disappointed, she walks in, not paying attention to anything in particular. Behind her, the boy’s breath catches, and Cora turns to acknowledge him.

“Your grandmother was . . . _Leia Organa_?” he gets out around choked breath. Cora hesitates, nodding.

“Yeah, I . . . never got to meet her, though. She died around the same time my father did. I never got to meet him either,” she reveals, the last sentence softer than the others. The boy looks at her sympathetically, seeming to understand her.

“Both my parents died when I was just a kid, so I get it. What about your mom?” he asks, suddenly interested in her life story. Cora lets out a humorless laugh.

“Mum is the reason I’m here alone, if that tells you anything,” she says dryly. His eyes dance in amusement, but he doesn’t laugh at her.

“It doesn’t, but I’m sure you’ll tell me eventually,” he replies, ending the conversation and disappearing to somewhere else in the apartment. Cora blinks, not entirely sure what just happened. Did they just become . . . _friends_?

-

Shaking the weird encounter off, Cora sets off in search of her father’s childhood bedroom. It’s not hard to find, as there are only three rooms upstairs. Peering into the second room, Cora grins when she sees that it’s undoubtedly the bedroom of a young boy. There’s model ships neatly arranged on shelves, a leather jacket draped over the chair at the desk, and an X-wing pilot’s helmet on a table beside the bed. Cora takes it all in, spinning around before walking closer toward the walls made of transparisteel and gazing at the city below.

“Wow,” she breathes. If this was the view she woke up to every morning, Cora isn’t sure it would ever stop feeling this amazing. Stepping away from the windows, she goes over and sits on the bed, running her fingers over the rich material. She closes her eyes, trying to see something, anything, that might tell her where her father is. The Force shows her snippets of memories: a young Ben Solo being cradled by his mother, tears streaming down his face from a bad dream; her father, a little older, making his model ships fly; a sadder moment, Ben Solo’s lip quivering, unshed tears in his eyes, as his parents tell him he’s going away, that he gets to train to become a Jedi with Uncle Luke. Just as things are getting interesting, Cora’s eyes snap open, her lungs gasping for air.

She stands abruptly, her legs shaky. “Where did he go?” she whispers to herself.

“Where did who go?”

Cora startles, turning around to face the girl. She shakes her head, trying to clear her thoughts. “My droid,” she answers. “He’s always rolling off somewhere to get into trouble.” The girl doesn’t look convinced, but she doesn’t push it further. Instead she motions her head back toward the stairs.

“Um, well, I saw him in the study before I came up here,” she replies. Inquisitive once more, she probes, “Whose room is this?” Cora relaxes a bit. She supposes it won’t do any harm in sharing this piece of information.

“This was my father’s room,” she answers. The girl whistles, impressed by the trinkets on the shelves.

“Must’ve been one hell of a pilot,” she comments, gesturing with her hand, “what with being the son of Han Solo.” Cora isn’t sure how to respond, choosing only to nod before walking out of the room and pulling the door shut behind her.

As the two walk down the stairs, the girl looks at her slyly. “You know, you never told us your name.” Cora raises an eyebrow.

“You didn’t tell me yours,” she points out. The girl shrugs.

“I’m Narissa, but everyone calls me Riss,” she introduces, holding out her hand. Cora takes it, responding a moment later.

“I’m Corona,” she says, and Narissa’s eyes light up.

“Corona, huh? No nickname?” she questions.

“Well, I mean - ” Cora backpedals, but Narissa continues on, seemingly oblivious.

“I think I’m gonna call you Corey,” she decides, and Cora is too polite to say she doesn’t really like it, but she’s also flattered that someone chose to give her a nickname. She’s still processing it when the boy calls out.

“Hey, Riss! We gotta get going if we wanna avoid the officials,” he says with an edge of nervousness. Narissa nods before looking back at Cora.

“And that,” she says, “is Landis. He has no nickname because any shortening of his name is kriffing stupid.” Cora gives her a tight-lipped smile in acknowledgement. Just as she’s going to reply, BB-8 rolls into the room, beeping incessantly at her. Cora blinks, taking it all in.

“What? But this is Grandmother’s apartment! They can’t arrest me! This place technically belongs to me! Oh, Mum is going to be livid if she finds out about this.” She closes her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“You know, if you leave now, they won’t catch you,” Landis informs her. She looks at him incredulously.

“I can’t _run away_!” she sputters.

“Why not?” Riss chimes in. “Not getting caught is a lot easier than escaping a holding cell.” Cora’s stomach roils at the thought, and she hangs her head in shame, giving in. Narissa grins, seeing Cora’s acceptance. “Just follow us. We’re experts at this.”

“That’s what I’m worried about,” Cora sighs to herself, sluggishly following Landis and Narissa back to the speeders. She prays that this is the first and last time she engages in illegal activity.


	4. R E Y

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey acknowledges some hard truths on the three day flight to Chandrila.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sorry y'all i just was not feeling this chapter so if at times it feels choppy or skips a lot of time that's why. i confess i'm eager to get back to cora and her new friends, but this chapter was necessary so i powered through!!  
> fair warning, this chapter has a dash of finnrose, so i'm sorry if they're not your cup of tea, but i do think she balances finn out really well. i still love stormpilot, but if i'm sticking as close to canon as possible i can't deny that they just kept forcing shit down our throats that stormpilot wasn't going to happen :( still, poe hasn't settled down and will remain an eligible bachelor :) also, yes, bb-8's a snitch, but he's just trying to do the right thing!!

As soon as she boards Finn’s ship, Rey is greeted by R2-D2 beeping enthusiastically that he’s just received a transmission from BB-8 that they’re headed to Chandrila, and hearing that makes Rey ache with fondness and sadness. She’s only ever been to Chandrila once, and it was to meet with the realtor to have Leia’s apartment transferred to her name. Though the apartment is now hers, at the time Rey hadn’t been able to venture further than the open air patio in the sky. The wound of Ben’s death had still been fresh, and she didn’t think seeing his childhood home would help.

It will take them three days to reach Chandrila. They’re a day behind Cora and BB-8, but hopefully her crafty droid is able to stall long enough for Rey and Finn to find her before she decides to fly off to some other planet by herself.

Finn senses her unease and can visibly see the tension in her body, so he clears his throat, attempting to break the heavy air. “So . . . I guess we have a bit to catch up on,” he starts, his eyes searching her face for a reaction. Rey sighs, releasing her shoulders.

“I suppose we do,” she acknowledges. Her mood is still melancholy, but Finn really does his best to try and help that.

“Well, my kids are taller. Zellen went through a growth spurt, and Kaye . . . well, she’s still tiny, but she’s bigger than the last time you saw her.” Talks like these make Rey feel as if the two of them are normal friends with normal lives. She chuckles thinking about how Cora’s grown in the last year.

“Cora’s taller than me now,” she reveals. Finn’s eyes widen in surprise. “I guess I should’ve seen it coming, since Ben towered over me, but I figured we’d be somewhere around the same height.” Finn laughs, shaking his head.

“My kids will be lucky if they’re as tall as me. You know how small Rose is. I already know Kaye isn’t going to be much taller than her. She’s four years old, and she’s the smallest in her class at school.” Finn’s face lights up when he talks about his family, and it’s enough to make Rey smile in response to his happiness.

“Speaking of schools . . .” she trails off, Finn giving her an unimpressed look. “How’s yours going?” He contemplates her question a moment before answering her.

“It’s going about as well as you can expect from a mediocre Force user trying to help frightened children,” he deadpans. “You know, if I had the help of the last Jedi, maybe things would be running smoother.” Rey knows he’s only trying to help, but he didn’t understand then just as he doesn’t now.

“No, I’ve told you before that I can’t,” she says, smiling sadly as she shakes her head. “The Force will always be a part of my life, but so will Ben, and I can’t block out one without blocking out the other.” She pauses, her thoughts swimming in different directions. “Do I miss it sometimes? Yes, but that goes without saying. Most of my life I survived without the Force, so doing it now shouldn’t be any different,” she dismisses. Finn frowns, contemplating her.

“But it _is_ different,” he argues. “Even though you hadn’t felt it before, the Force has always been there. Now? Now, you’re purposely pushing it out, and that’s got to hurt almost as much as the wound in your soul.”

And just like that, Rey’s closed herself off again. “No,” she says forcefully. “Nothing will ever feel worse than that.”

-

The rest of their journey passes in relative silence, aside from R2’s occasional updates from BB-8. Even those aren’t enough to cheer Rey up. She sits in the back of the ship in darkness, hiding from Finn and hiding from herself. She knows there’s truth to his words. Even without the pain of her bond with Ben, there’s a different emptiness she feels without the Force. Bitterly, she wonders if this was why Master Luke was so grumpy on his island. She remembers the last time she was on that island, when she planned to disappear just as he did so that she wouldn’t give in to the Dark Side. He told her that he was wrong, that confronting fear was the destiny of a Jedi.

Hesitantly, her whole body shaking, she reaches out, greeting that fear like an old friend. It hums around her, rejoicing at her return. Rey’s senses are flooded with fleeting visions, unable to identify fact from fiction. She sees Cora, running toward something obscured from her view; she sees a red planet and a lonely girl gazing at the stars from the top of a tower; she sees herself, smiling at the sunrise on a planet with sparkling lakes and endless green plains, the most gorgeous estate behind her; and then she sees Ben. Rey desperately clings to it, not wanting it to disappear like the others. He’s laughing, at what Rey cannot be certain, but he looks happy. Her eyes in the vision soften, tears she couldn’t hold back streaming down her face as she stares and stares. He looks up, and Rey’s breath catches before remembering he can’t see her. Still, she can’t help the breathless, “Ben,” that escapes her lips. His eyebrows furrow, and for a moment she thinks he hears her, but then he turns to something out of his vision.

“Rey?” he calls, and her heart bursts. “Rey, did you call me?” The vision blurs until Rey is blinking in the darkness of the ship again. She brings a hand to her cheek, feeling the very real tears there.

“Ben,” she says again softly to herself. And for the first time in fourteen years, Rey doesn’t feel any pain.

-

As they’re approaching Chandrila, Rey guiltily walks back to the cockpit, her apology already on her lips.

“I’m sorry,” she rushes out, and Finn raises an eyebrow. Her face flushes, embarrassed at her previous behavior. “You were right. I have been causing myself another kind of pain, and . . . I let it in.” Finn rises, astonishment and sympathy layering on his face.

“Rey, I didn’t mean you had to do it all at _once_ \- ” he starts, but she holds up her hand to silence him. He presses his lips together, nodding at her to go on.

“I saw a lot of things, visions of events that have happened or could happen, and at the end of it all I saw . . . _Ben_ ,” she reveals. Finn looks like he has a response ready to be spoken, but she continues before he can get the words out. “At first I thought it was just some cruel joke of the Force, but then . . . he said my name, Finn. Whether or not that vision is real or at all possible, I have to give my daughter the benefit of the doubt. I’m not saying I’m putting all my hope in there being a way to bring him back, because I did that once, and it led me nowhere, but Cora heard him, and she needs someone to believe in her, so I will be that person as best as I am able.” Whatever Finn wanted to say before has vanished from his face, and his expression now reads like one of a proud father. It’s a look she’s seen when Zellen tells his father what he’s learned from his lessons that day or Kaye shows him a drawing she’s done.

“You know, there’s nothing wrong with a little bit of hope, Rey. It’s a lesson I’m always enforcing on my students. It’s a lesson I learned from _you_.” Finn smiles at her, and Rey’s heart swells with pride.

“You’re a good friend, Finn, and an even better teacher,” she acknowledges, nodding. He smirks, shrugging.

“Well, someone has to do the heavy lifting in this friendship,” he remarks. She laughs, shoving his shoulder. After a minute, she sobers up.

“It really is nice to see you again, Finn. I know that I’ve been . . . distant, and I do apologize for that. It’s just . . . I have to be so strong for Cora, you know? She thought for so long that her family was normal, that what Ben and I had was normal. Kriff, she wasn’t even _conceived_ normally! I didn’t start telling her pieces of the story until she was ten, and even now she doesn’t know everything. I just . . . her whole life, all I’ve ever wanted was for her to be happy. If I can do that, it feels like I’ve done something right.” She shudders a breath, her eyes wavering with unshed tears. “She’s all I have, Finn. I can’t lose her, too.” Finn puts a hand on her shoulder.

“Family isn’t just blood, Rey; it’s the people that matter to us. Your bloodline doesn’t define you. _You_ decide who you want to be, and it’s because of who you are that has made so many people love you. You have me, and Rose, and Poe, and Chewie, and BB-8, and R2, and 3PO, and anyone else whose life you’ve touched. You’re not alone, Rey, and you’re not going to lose Cora. We’re going to find her, and when we do, we’ll make sure she knows that she isn’t alone either.” She pulls Finn into a hug. She’s never told anyone about the moment in the hut on Ahch-To with Ben, yet somehow Finn knew the exact words she needed to hear.

“Thank you, Finn,” she whispers. Once she pulls away, Finn grins at her.

“Anytime. Now, let’s go get your girl.”

-

Upon landing in Hanna City, the pair make their way to Leia’s apartment in the hope that Cora will be there. A speeder drops them off on the landing, and Rey and Finn blink in shock at the sight that greets them. The front door is open, the keypad short-circuiting from the damage done to it.

“Well, someone’s been here,” Finn states. “Whether or not it was Cora is still up for debate.”

Rey doesn’t respond, instead pushing forward through the threshold. Her eyes sweep the large common area but don’t see anything amiss. She lets her shoulders drop, not sensing any impending danger. She’s about to go up the stairs to the second floor when she comes face to face with a Twi’lek in an official looking uniform.

“Oi!” she startles. “May I ask what you’re doing here?”

The Twi’lek looks at her suspiciously, asking, “What are _you_ doing here? This is the scene of an open investigation, and no one has been authorized to be let in.” Rey’s eyes narrow, unimpressed.

“The front door is open. No one stopped me from entering,” she says. “And anyway, this is my apartment. From what I can tell, nothing has been stolen, and the only damage that’s been done is to the keypad for the door.” Rey has had enough people in her life talk down to her, and she isn’t about to let some amateur detective do it now.

The Twi’lek has half a mind to look embarrassed. “With all due respect, ma’am, this apartment hasn’t been lived in for quite some time, so I’m going to ask for proof of ownership.” Rey groans, not anticipating this much hassle in trying to locate her daughter. She figured the hardest thing would be finding Cora, not proving that she owns an apartment.

Sighing, she reaches into her bag, pulling out her datapad and opening the document she signed all those years ago. She shows the Twi’lek the document, and his eyes widen at her name. He looks up her again, his eyes finally placing her face and connecting the dots.

“Apologies, Miss Skywalker. If I had known - ” he sputters, but Rey only waves him off.

“It’s fine. I don’t need to hear your excuses. What I need is my door fixed and access to the holo footage from yesterday.” As an afterthought she adds, “Please.”

-

After feeling like he’d greatly insulted her, the Twi’lek gave her the holo footage with surprisingly little questions asked. He finally left after Rey insisted multiple times that she wished to close the investigation. He strongly advised against that, but Rey didn’t care. Once she finds her daughter, it’s unlikely she’ll ever be back here again.

The apartment is quiet now. She sits alone in the common area, Finn having disappeared into some other room. The holo footage flickers in front of her, waiting for her to press play. Silently, she prays that Cora appears in it, hoping she knows her daughter the way she thinks she does.

The footage plays before her, and after about twenty minutes of nothing a speeder stops at the apartment’s landing, Cora hopping out of it with BB-8 trailing faithfully behind her. Rey lets out a relieved cry. Then there’s another twenty minutes of BB-8 stalling with the lock, and Rey shakes her head at the cheeky droid, knowing full well that he has the code to the apartment stored in his databank. Suddenly, there’s a commotion, Cora walking toward the railing and calling out to the people on the landing next to her. They say something back, and the next thing she knows they’re on the landing with Cora and BB-8. Rey can now clearly see the pair - a boy and a girl, not much older than Cora. She can’t make out the girl’s face with her mass of blonde hair in the way, but she walks toward the door and moves BB-8 to stick a device into the keypad, presumably opening the door as they all disappear from the frame. Rey waits patiently for them to come back out. She knows they must, since they weren’t here when she and Finn arrived. She speeds up the footage, pausing it when they rush back out, seemingly in a hurry to get away. The paused frame finally reveals the girl’s face, and Rey’s eyes widen, realizing where she’s seen this girl before. This is the same girl from her vision of the red planet she had the day before. The boy and girl zip away in their speeder, and Cora and BB-8 follow them out of the frame, but Rey is still thinking about the vision. She doesn’t feel a Dark energy surrounding the girl, but still there’s _something_ off about her, and Rey fears the worst for Cora.

Rey closes her eyes, reaching out to her daughter, hoping that she’ll reach back. _Come back to me, Starlight._ The ringing silence is answer enough.


	5. C O R A

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cora, along with Landis and Narissa, venture out of the city. More visions plague the young Solo, and she learns that tampering with them causes extreme consequences.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys. last chapter of the decade ;) this one's been my favorite to write so far, and when you get to the end you'll probably see why :))) also thanks for getting this story over 1000 hits <3 it makes me so happy that so many of you are enjoying this!!

_One of these days, I’m going to get myself killed_ , Cora thinks, sitting in the abandoned building that Landis and Narissa live in. After their hasty escape from arrest, Landis and Narissa led Cora and BB-8 to this place close to the edge of the city. Initially, Cora had been hesitant, because her interaction with strangers has been limited, but Riss had smiled at her and for some reason Cora felt like she could trust her. The three of them had spent hours talking until it was nearly light out and they all agreed they should probably get some sleep. Cora slept on a couch, the cushions worn with age, and for once she was grateful for her farm back on Tatooine. Maybe she thought her life was lonely and boring, but at least she was well taken care of. She’ll have to have a talk with her mum about her new friends’ living conditions when they’re reunited.

Now, she stares through the hole in the ceiling at the city as it wakes up for the day. She supposes she ought to get moving, too. Rubbing some feeling back into her arms, Cora stands to go find Narissa. The blonde sleeps peacefully on a mattress with fraying blue curtains over her head, strung up with a piece of wire. Cora thinks she looks much younger when she’s sleeping. Regardless of age, Narissa is the most strikingly beautiful person Cora has ever met. Her sharp features, full lips, and dramatic eyebrows are enough for anyone to be envious of, but it’s her eyes that Cora finds most intriguing. Narissa blinks up at her as she approaches, and there’s her ice blue eyes, storm clouds dancing in them. Her mouth stretches into a smirk, quirking an eyebrow at Cora.

“What is it, Corey?” she says in that relaxed way of hers. Cora snaps out of her thoughts, remembering the reason she walked over in the first place.

“I really need to get going,” she insists. Narissa looks confused.

“Go? But you just got here,” she points out. Cora sighs, conflicted by how much to tell her.

“I know, but the longer I stay, the more likely it is that my mother finds me, and she’s just going to make me go back home to our farm, and I’ll never know for sure if this quest was even worth it in the first place,” she explains in a rush. Narissa blinks, processing it all.

“Then we’ll get you out of here as soon as possible,” she reassures, nodding. Cora smiles in relief.

“Thanks, Riss,” she says, and Narissa’s eyes gleam as she stands, throwing her right arm around Cora’s shoulders.

“I don’t know what it is about you, Corey, but there’s a part of me that’s telling me to help you,” she confesses. Cora flushes, not used to people being this forward with her. She imagines this is what having a best friend must be like.

“Landis!” Narissa calls out a moment later. “Come on! Our new friend has somewhere to be!”

Landis complements Narissa, despite his appearance being softer and more boyish. Sure, he’s got incredible cheekbones, but they’re only noticeable in a certain light. No, Landis is warm where Narissa is cool, and where Narissa’s smile reeks of mischief, Landis’s shines brighter than the twin suns on Tatooine. His sandy hair flops over his eyes, their blue-green depths making Cora feel immensely calm. The lazy smile he directs at them depicts the relaxed teen he could have been in another life.

“Where to next, boss?” he jokes, and Narissa rolls her eyes, shoving his chest lightly.

“We’re getting Corey out of the city,” she declares.

-

Cora convinces Landis and Narissa to let her return the speeder she rented before she joins them with BB-8 in their much older barely-held-together speeder. She reaches into her bag, her hand reassuring her that the lightsabers are still there. She breathes out a sigh of relief, and Narissa glances over her shoulder at Cora.

“You good back there, Corey?” she yells over the wind rushing past them in the speeder. Cora nods at her. The rest of the ride passes in silence since there would be no point in talking with how loud the wind is. Apparently Landis enjoys life in the fast lane.

Before leaving this morning, Cora had told Landis and Narissa that her ship was in a field about an hour outside the city. With how fast Landis is driving, Cora surmises that they’ll arrive at the _Falcon_ in at most a half hour.

When she sees her family ship coming into view, she relaxes a bit. She has to admit, she’d been a little worried that they wouldn’t find the ship since Cora didn’t have exact coordinates. Unfortunately, as they’re cresting the final hill, Cora sees that her ship has attracted some attention. Raiders poke at it, attempting to lower the boarding ramp. Landis sees them and slows the speeder to a stop, but Cora hops out, lifting BB-8 as she does.

“Oi!” she yells charging down the hill, BB-8 rolling at top speed behind her.

“Corona!” Landis calls from behind. “What are you doing?”

But Cora isn’t listening. Instead, she’s whipping out one of the lightsabers from the bag at her hip, igniting it as she plows forward. The raiders shriek in fear, running in all different directions away from the ship. Cora extinguishes the blade as she reaches the boarding ramp, pressing a button that blends in with the ship to lower the ramp. She turns around as she hears the approach of a speeder.

“All right, farm girl, you’ve got some explaining to do,” Landis demands as he and Narissa near her.

-

“So you’re a Jedi,” Narissa states, and Cora shakes her head. She and Landis are sitting on crates in the main hold while Cora stands and paces.

“No, I’m not a Jedi. I just have the Force,” she explains.

“That’s a bit egocentric of you,” Landis quips. “Where I’m from, they described people as Force-sensitive, since you can’t literally possess the Force.” Cora rolls her eyes.

“Whatever. Point being, I can use it. My mum can, too. Apparently, it’s kind of a family staple at this point.”

“I call bantha shit on that,” Narissa snipes. “The Force isn’t a _genetic_ trait. It calls on random people, and no one family just has that many Force users.” Cora bites her lip, hesitant to say her next thought.

“Normally, I’d agree with you. By all logic, it doesn’t make sense,” she starts. “But my family is a little . . . _different_ . My great-grandfather was conceived of the Force, and . . . so was I.” Landis and Narissa peer at her uncertainly, unsure that they heard her correctly. Cora breathes unsteadily, finding the courage to continue. “My father . . . he died because he saved my mum. She was dying - or already dead, I don’t even know - and he couldn’t live in a galaxy without her, so he healed her . . . by giving her his life force, and in doing so . . . accidentally created me. He disappeared, supposedly becoming one with the Force, but I . . . I’ve never _felt_ him in the Force, and neither has my mum, but a few days ago he spoke to me, so now I’m on this quest to find him and bring him back, though I’m not sure if this will even amount to anything.” She finishes on a gloomy note, slumping down at the gaming table, BB-8 attempting to console her. Suddenly she feels a hand on her shoulder, then another on the other side. Cora lifts her head, sniffling, and meets Narissa’s eyes.

“We have a bit of a confession to make, Corey,” Narissa says. Cora’s eyes scrunch in confusion, but the confusion fades as she sees the crates her friends were sitting on a moment ago floating in the air.

“You have the Force, too,” she states in disbelief. Narissa smiles guiltily.

“If you mean we’re also Force-sensitive, then yes,” Landis corrects. Cora rolls her eyes again, not caring about the correct terminology.

“We’re not trained, but it’s how we found each other,” Narissa explains. “Just two orphans, thrown to the streets of Hanna City.”

“We felt each other in the Force about seven years ago, and we’ve been together ever since,” Landis continues. Cora looks between them, still unsure of something.

“But . . . if you can use the Force, why are you thieves? Why are you still _here_?” she wonders. Narissa narrows her eyes, arms crossed over her chest, suddenly defensive.

“I told you, we’re not trained, Corey. All we’ve got are a few party tricks and a connection to an existence that surrounds everything. We don’t have lightsabers, and we don’t know how to use the Force to our advantage the way you do,” she snaps.

“But I’m not trained either!” she rebuts. “It’s just an instinct. Mum never let me open myself up to it, but she said it’s like letting something else take over you.”

“Oh, spare me,” Narissa ripes. “If your family is so ‘all-powerful,’ then they must, like, worship the Force.” She’s quick to dismiss Cora, but Landis stares at her intensely.

“Why wouldn’t your mother let you train?” he asks.

“Because of the bond!” she blurts out. Landis’s eyes widen, almost as if he knows what she’s talking about, but Narissa turns back to her, suddenly interested. “My parents . . . they had a bond in the Force, and when my father died, it left my mother with half a soul,” Cora explains.

“ _It would simply be empty, a wound_ ,” Landis whispers to himself, and Cora stills.

“Where did you hear that?” Cora asks, her stomach in knots. He isn’t looking at her, but he answers her all the same.

“My parents,” he replies. “They weren’t Force-sensitive, but they were huge believers in everything about the Force. Our entire village was devoted to it, and the elders collected many works on it, even writing some themselves. When I was a kid, they used to read to me about it all the time, since they believed it was their duty to educate me on it since the Force blessed them with a Force-sensitive child. One day, one of the elders was talking about bonds in the Force, and he read a passage from an old Jedi Master who said that bonds can never fully be broken, but if one half dies, then the other will just have an emptiness, like something is missing. For a seven-year-old boy, it sounded terrifying to me. To be bound to someone else, knowing that one day one of you has to suffer without the other? Yeah, it sounded unbearable, and it still does.” Cora wraps her arms around her abdomen, caving in on herself.

“Mum says it’s a pain worse than cutting yourself off from the Force,” she whispers, and this causes Narissa _and_ Landis to look at her. “So that’s why I have to bring my father back. For her. But there’s no natural way to do it.” Landis narrows his eyes, intensely focused.

“You’re going to use the Dark Side of the Force to bring back your father,” he accuses, and Cora’s eyes bulge in bewilderment.

“What? No!” she denies vehemently, but Landis presses forward.

“You just said there’s no natural way to bring him back,” he points out. “And the only way to resurrect someone is with Dark abilities. No wonder your mother wanted you to leave this alone.” He scoffs, arms folded over his chest. Cora averts her gaze, unsure how to respond.

“Well, I don’t care what I have to do, Corey,” Narissa chimes in. Cora lifts her head slowly. “I told you I’d help you with your quest, and I don’t go back on my word.” She shrugs, continuing, “So what if we tap into the Dark a little bit? You can’t always be Light.” Landis frowns, but he doesn’t voice his disagreement. Cora’s mouth slowly stretches into a smile.

“I appreciate the dedication, but I won’t be using the Dark Side if I can help it,” she reassures. Landis gives her a nod of approval and a look that says he wishes to speak more about this with her. Narissa rolls her eyes, but she still smiles back.

“I guess we keep things boring by doing everything the right way.” She says this sarcastically, but Cora wonders how much internal struggle she’s actually dealing with regarding her alignment in the Force. She wonders if the storm clouds in Narissa’s eyes reflect more than just the light inside the _Falcon_.

-

Narissa goes off to explore the ship, and Landis follows Cora back to the crew quarters. They sit opposite each other as he patiently waits for her to put her bag with the lightsabers behind a panel in the wall. When she turns back to face him, he immediately peppers her with questions.

“Just _how_ exactly do you plan on bringing your father back without using the Dark?” he demands. “Once someone’s gone, they’re _gone_.” Cora tilts her head, grinning slightly at him.

“Well, my uncle Poe said that Luke Skywalker once told General Leia Organa that no one’s ever really gone, so I suppose the same could be said about my father.” Landis looks at her skeptically, and her expression falters. “I also don’t believe my father is technically dead. He vanished on Exegol fourteen years ago, but he never joined the past Jedi who became one with the Force. I think he’s in a state between life and death, but he’s trapped and unable to join either side. If I can find a way to reach him, then I think I could bring him back.” Landis still doesn’t look convinced.

“You know this could also go horribly wrong, right?” he stresses. Cora’s lips point downward, but she nods because yes, she does know that she may not succeed.

“I have to _know_ , though, Landis. If there’s a chance . . .” she trails off, but he reaches between them and squeezes her hand in reassurance.

“I know,” he implores, and she smiles gratefully at him.

-

It’s later now, and Cora sits alone in the crew quarters. She closes her eyes, blocking out all other senses but the Force. At first all she sees is the same darkness she saw upon closing her eyes, but after a minute images begin to fade into her subconscious.

The first one is of a planet that rages red and angry and burning, two Jedi fighting over a sea of magma. The one with an accent like hers agonizes over the other, crying that the other one, who lays in the cooling rock, his limbs severed and his body burning, burning, _burning_ , was supposed to bring balance to the Force. It’s then that Cora sees the other Jedi is not quite a Jedi at all. His eyes stare daggers with their intense yellow color at the Jedi above him. He’s still screaming his hatred as the vision shifts.

Cora’s standing in a cold room, three figures spread out around her. She recognizes all of them: Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, and Emperor Palpatine. Luke tosses his lightsaber aside, declaring himself a Jedi before the Emperor. Cora knows how this ends. She anticipates Darth Vader turning against his master to save his son. The second Death Star is crumbling around them as the vision fades from view.

Now she’s on an unfamiliar planet with flashes of light all around her. She looks around, and she sees a man draped over the body of someone else. He’s shaking, and Cora wishes she could help him. Suddenly, he presses his hand to her abdomen, closing his eyes in concentration. Hesitantly, Cora walks closer, and her blood runs cold as she sees the body in his lap. _Mum_ , she thinks breathlessly. Once she realizes who it is, she looks up at the man and makes the connection as her mum wakes up and whispers, “Ben,” just as she herself whispers, “Dad.” Cora drops to her knees, her hand covering her mouth to stifle the broken sobs, as she watches the scene unfold before her. As her father begins to fall, Cora reacts without thinking. Her arm shoots out, her right hand latching onto her father’s, and she disappears with him.

Her eyes blink at the adjustment to the darkness, and she looks around wondering aloud, “Where am I?”

“You’re in a gateway,” a voice responds, and Cora whirls around to face Ben Solo. He looks at her curiously, and her throat closes. “A world between worlds,” he continues, stepping toward her cautiously. He peers at her closely. “But you’re not actually here, are you?” Cora shakes her head, choking out a response.

“I’m - ” she starts, but she stops to collect her thoughts. “I had a vision, but I think I interfered where I wasn’t supposed to,” she confesses. Ben regards her with an amused expression.

“I always interfered where I wasn’t supposed to,” he shares, and Cora laughs at his attempt to make her more comfortable. “Where are you, really?” he asks.

“Chandrila,” she replies, and she can see the emotions shifting across his face. She isn’t sure how much longer she has, so she continues. “I was actually looking for _you_ ,” she reveals, and Ben looks at her quizzically, bringing a hand to his chest.

“ _Me_?” he wonders. “But you don’t even know who I am.” She tugs on her curls nervously, unsure how much to say and how much of this is real. Ben notices the habit, though he doesn’t make the connection to himself.

“I - you - we - _Mum_ \- ” she sputters, and Ben looks at her oddly. She releases a frustrated breath, forcing herself to get the words out. “My name is Corona Solo, and a few nights ago I heard the voice of my father, Ben Solo, _you_. My mum - Rey, though I assumed you’d realize that eventually - she’s cut herself off from the Force, because of the wound of your bond. I just . . . our lives won’t be complete without you in it,” she finishes lamely. She meets her father’s eyes, and their warm brown depths glisten with unshed tears.

“You’re . . . my daughter?” he questions in disbelief. Cora was nervous at first, but now she smiles unabashedly at him.

“That is what my mother tells me, yes,” she confirms. Ben laughs as he takes another step forward. He hesitates, suddenly unsure of himself.

“Can I . . . can I hold you?” he asks uncertainly, but Cora only nods, her grin widening if that’s even possible.

“It’s all I’ve been dreaming of since I was a young girl,” she confesses as her father wraps her in his arms. She thinks they’re both crying, but she doesn’t mind. She’s wanted a father for thirteen years, and he’s everything she’s ever hoped for.

Suddenly, the vision wavers, and she desperately calls out, “How do I find you?” But he never gets to respond. Cora’s eyes take in the fluorescent lighting in the crew quarters, and she sees that she’s still alone, but she’s barely paying attention because all she can think is _he’s alive, he’s alive, he’s real, he held me, he’s alive, he’s out there, he’s alive_.


	6. B E N

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben Solo feels less alone than he usually does.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> typing the first sentence was cathartic for me. (i apologize for the wait with this one. it was a struggle to get the ball rolling, but once i got into it i was able to push through!!)

Ben Solo is alive. At least, he thinks he is. It’s hard to tell these days. He feels a tether to the living, but he’s been watching events through doorways for what’s felt like forever. He doesn’t know how much time has passed, but he knows that minutes or hours or days ago he spoke to a girl claiming to be his daughter, and if she is any indication of time passing it’s been at least ten years.

Ben’s still trying to make sense of it all. The girl - Corona, she said - had _her_ face, Rey’s face. She had looked and sounded like his lost love, and her eyes held the same loneliness Rey’s often had, so it isn’t hard to believe that Rey is her mother. No, the trouble he has is believing that the girl is _his_ daughter. If nothing else, she seems to think he’s her father, and he will admit that holding her felt inexplicably _right_. Hugging her had been like hugging the light he sometimes feels surrounding him. Before she’d faded away, she’d asked how to find him, and he was just getting the words out when she vanished, so he isn’t sure she heard him.

Truthfully, he’s glad she hadn’t heard him, because his answer wouldn’t have been very helpful. Unfortunately, Ben knows no way out of this gateway. If he did, he would’ve left ages ago. However, the girl, his daughter - _stars above, that’s going to take some getting used to_ \- has given him something he hasn’t had for a while: hope.

There was a time, when he’d first appeared here, that Ben Solo had hoped he would see his love again. Well, he supposed he should’ve been more specific in his wish, because technically he _did_ see her, though not in the way he’d hoped. He saw her as a child, scratching tallies into the side of the half-sunken AT-AT she lived in. He saw her encounter the droid that fated their meeting. He saw her open the chest in Maz’s castle on Takodana, his grandfather’s lightsaber calling to her even then. He saw her haphazardly shooting at him, her fear something he’d clung to at the time. He saw her push _back_ when he’d first entered her mind, spitting his own fears back at him. He saw her in the snow, their sabers crossed as she opened herself to the Force, Ben patiently waiting for her to see in herself what he’d known the moment she entered his mind. He saw her hugging his mother before departing to the _Millenium Falcon_ , no doubt on her way to go find his uncle Luke. He saw her following his uncle around the island he’d seen in her mind, Rey somehow managing to destroy some part of the ancient Jedi sanctuary every day, aggravating the caretakers to no end. He saw her in the dim glow of the fire in her hut, her fingers hesitantly brushing his. He saw her interrogate his uncle, defending him and determining she had to go to him. He saw her in the throne room on her knees, her eyes pleading with him, as he never took his eyes off her, his decision made as he subtly twisted the lightsaber and ignited it. He saw her standing before the Emperor, terrified and utterly alone yet too stubborn to let her grandfather know her feelings. He saw her the moment she saw him through the bond, her eyes filled with relief. He saw her as he gave his life for her, her eyes opening, his name slipping past her lips. He saw her . . . _after_. He saw her screaming into the empty desert on Tatooine, no one around to listen to her. He saw her sitting in the dark in the back of a ship, her eyes closed in concentration. He saw her, older and more at peace with herself, on Naboo, his grandmother’s estate behind her. He never saw himself in these newer scenes, so he assumed he wasn’t in them, that he was doomed to an eternal fate of watching the lives of the woman he loved and others he’d met or never seen before over and over. He’d tried to go through one of the doorways once, but the rules were different for him. He was neither here nor there, so he could neither pass through a doorway nor join the Force users that had passed before him. For all intents and purposes, he was stuck there.

Now, though, Ben knows that he _can_ be reached. When he heard the voice calling, _Be with me_ , he’d initially assumed it was Rey, since she’d whispered those words into the Force before, but now he realizes it must have been Corona, because she’d claimed he’d spoken to her, and the last words he recalls sending back had been in response to that plea.

Curiously, he searches the abyss for any snapshots of Corona’s life, since he now knows that he won’t find anything about Rey from her own memories if she truly has cut herself off from the Force. Ben hears a little girl’s laughter, and he whips his head around to find the doorway that leads to his daughter. She looks no older than four or five here, and she cannot contain her giggles as she lifts that droid that held the map to his uncle off the ground. Rey enters the room, stunned and unsure how to approach the situation.

“Look, Mummy!” Corona titters. “BB-8 is flying!” BB-8 beeps indignantly that he is not, in fact, flying, and he’d like to be put back on the ground now. Rey lowers to her daughter’s level, smiling softly and brushing curls out of her face. Dazedly, Ben notices that she wears her hair down and let it grow out, though it’s still kept out of her face.

“Cora, darling, you know what mummy said about using the Force,” she admonishes her gently. Cora scuffs her shoe in the sand, not meeting her mother’s gaze.

“I know, Mummy,” Corona says guiltily, finally releasing the droid, BB-8 abruptly dropping to the ground. “I just wish Daddy was here so we could _all_ use the Force,” she mopes glumly. Rey’s eyes dim a bit, but her smile never wavers.

“Me, too, my love, but I know the two of us can get by,” she reassures the child. Cora brightens after a moment, already thinking of something else to entertain herself, running off to some other room.

The moment vanishes, and Ben longs to see more, and yelling catches his attention from another direction. He desperately rushes to the sound, and this time Corona is older, looking as she did when she first appeared to him.

“But he _spoke_ to me, Mum! I reached out and he _answered_!” she rebuts, and Ben determines she must be defending herself.

Rey rubs her brow, looking on her daughter in annoyance. “Why now, then? Why hasn’t he ever answered me? We share a _soul_ , and he’s never once tried to reach me! I’m sorry, Cora, but you need to stop being delusional.” Ben flinches at Rey’s words. He _has_ tried to reach her. Admittedly, he’s always been unsuccessful, but with Corona’s revelation that Rey denies herself the use of the Force, Ben realizes that it may not entirely be his fault that he can’t reach her. He studies her as she is in this memory, and Ben can see that her face has thinned and she has dark rings under her eyes. She’s draining the life out of herself by pushing the Force out. He wants to scream at her that he didn’t give her his life force for her to turn into a shell of a human.

“Fine,” Cora snaps at her mother. “If you won’t help me, I’ll find him myself.” Though her declaration is not that well thought out, Ben is warmed by his daughter’s determination. _She sure is her mother’s daughter_ , he thinks. This memory also fades out as Cora storms outside. Ben wishes he could follow, but he figures if the Force wanted him to see more he would.

As always, he’s left in the darkness to contemplate what he’s seen. Doorways aren’t always open, though the faint light is always there. Ben has seen different periods of time over the years, and it’s led him to the conclusion that history is in an endless cycle. He’s seen his grandparents, he’s seen his parents; all there ever seems to be is tragedy. Ben wishes that cycle would break in his family. Maybe his daughter can achieve that, whether or not she succeeds in rescuing him. He knows Rey will protect her. No matter how much she’s changed, she’s still a scavenger at her core, and scavengers are protective over what’s theirs. He’s sure Rey doesn’t think of Cora as a possession, but she still feels an undeniable need to keep her safe. He just hopes that it’s enough to end the Skywalker curse.

Sniffling draws Ben’s attention to a dimly lit doorway. Through it he sees Rey in a medcenter. Her hair is matted, and it looks as though she’s exerted a lot of energy. The heels of her hands dig into her eyes, trying to stop the tears. For a while she’s alone, but then the traitor, her friend, enters the room, clasping her shoulder to comfort her.

“The medic will be back in soon. You have a daughter, Rey,” he lets her know gently. Rey remains silent, still not looking at him. After a few minutes, he leaves as it’s clear that she doesn’t wish to speak with anyone. The medic pushes through a moment later, a hovering cradle in front of her with a newborn baby lying inside. She sets the cradle beside Rey, not saying anything as she runs tests on both mother and child. She finally meets Rey’s gaze, forcing Rey to acknowledge her. She rests a hand on the cradle, drawing Rey’s attention to it.

“You and your daughter are perfectly healthy, miss,” she informs her. “Would you like to hold her?” Rey nods, wiping her eyes a final time before reaching for the baby. The medic hands her the child, and Rey asks to be left alone, so the medic exits.

Rey runs her finger over the baby’s face gently. The child’s eyes blink open, and Rey lets out a choked sob. She continues to caress her daughter as she says, “She’s perfect, Ben. I didn’t think I could ever love someone this much, but she’s already proven me wrong. I wish you were here. I wish . . . I wish it still didn’t hurt this much.” She draws the baby to her chest, soaking in her warmth. “But we’ll make it through,” she resolves. “My corona, my bright light to save me from this darkness.” She relaxes her arms, the baby again gazing at her mother in wonder. Rey’s crying again, but Ben thinks these are tears of happiness this time. “Corona Solo,” she breathes, and Ben is sure he’s never heard anything more beautiful. Rey smiles down at her daughter. “It’s not always going to be easy,” she warns the baby, but Corona only blinks at her. “But we’ll take it day to day, just focused on the next right thing.” She taps the baby’s nose, and Corona scrunches her face at the new sensation. Rey laughs, and Ben’s heart breaks, knowing she doesn’t do it enough. “I love you, my darling,” she promises, cradling her daughter and lulling the baby to sleep.

The memory fades, and Ben is left blinking in the darkness again. He’s not always so fortunate to see Rey this much, but his daughter has him hoping the next time he sees her will be face to face.

If he wasn’t so focused on the prospect of reuniting with his soulmate, Ben might’ve felt the tug on his soul that linked him to said soulmate. Of course, Ben Solo is not that lucky. Instead, all he feels is the endless abyss of the pathway he’s stuck wandering.


	7. C O R A

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cora reveals more about herself, Narissa stops Cora from having a mental breakdown, and Landis might just have a solution for Cora's problem.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi i'm back and more hyped to write this than ever. i considered doing a rey chapter following ben, but then i realized rey's deadass just sitting around waiting for bb-8 to snitch again, and i decided to write about something more interesting lmao. the rest of this weekend is a bit crazy (i have work today and i move back into my dorm tomorrow) and classes start up for me again on monday, so idk when the next chapter will be done :( but i hope you enjoy what i have for you now!! :)

Cora’s dreams are plagued with visions. She tosses and turns, unable to bring herself to wake up in case there’s something important she might miss. She’s just entered the Jedi temple on the island when she’s woken by someone shaking her arm. Her eyes snap open to Landis gazing down at her in concern. Scowling, she sits up.

“What is it, Landis?” She crosses her arms, making sure he knows he’s annoyed her. He hesitates before answering, averting his gaze.

“I’m sorry, but I came back here to get something, and you were screaming.”

“I told you not to wake me under any circumstances,” she snaps, and Landis flinches.

“Your nose is bleeding,” he tells her, attempting to defend himself. Reluctantly, she brushes her fingers under her nose, and they come away stained red. Cora doesn’t let him know that she’s alarmed, but she thinks he can see it in her expression. “You don’t have to keep doing this to yourself, you know. There has to be another way to find your father that doesn’t involve you hurting yourself.”

“I’m fine,” she dismisses, hopping off the bed to head into the refresher to wash her hands and face. Cora’s still adjusting to Landis’s need to control everything, though she knows he doesn’t mean it maliciously. She thinks he projects what little parenting he had onto her. Cora’s given up trying to tell him that she’s not an orphan, and her mother _has_ taught her enough about the galaxy that she’s self sufficient and doesn’t need constant supervision.

“You don’t look fine!” Landis calls, his voice getting closer as he approaches her. Cora turns around, wiping her hands on a towel. The refresher is a small space, so Landis is practically on top of her when he steps inside. Cora hopes he doesn’t pick up on the small hitch in her breath. She tells herself it’s just because he startled her.

“We should, um . . .” she trails off, uncertain of where she’s going with this statement.

“Yeah,” Landis replies, a little breathless, stepping back and letting her pass. Cora’s relieved he knows what she’s thinking because she isn’t sure what she’d have done if they were in there much longer. They exit the crew quarters, Cora heading for the main hold to look for something to eat. Narissa lazes on top of a crate, her right arm dangling over the edge, despite the array of available seats. She grins at Cora as she barrels into the main hold, making a beeline for the crate of dried food. Not for the first time, Cora is immensely grateful for her mother’s scavenger tendency to hoard things, prepared for any situation.

Cora drops a portion back into the crate, a bout of homesickness washing over her. She didn’t anticipate it being this hard for her to be away from her mother. Granted, she’s never been apart from her mother for more than a few hours at a time, so it’s understandable that it feels weird approaching a week without any contact with her. For a moment, Cora thinks of sending a transmission to her mother, just to see if she would answer. But the thought vanishes before it’s even fully formed.

Grabbing a few portions, she distributes them to Landis and Narissa, keeping two for herself. She’s halfway through the dried fruit when Narissa speaks up.

“Any new information on your dad, Corey?” she asks, only half interested. Cora pauses in eating, her eyes looking up from her pathetic meal.

“No,” she answers, shaking her head. “I just keep dreaming of the same island every time I go to sleep, but there are islands everywhere, so there’s no way to identify it.” Cora thinks for a minute before rambling some more. “Well, I suppose there’s some distinguishable features, like that no one lives there and there’s a Jedi temple, but the Jedi are pretty much extinct.” She shrugs, not giving her thoughts much credit.

Narissa and Landis share a look, and Narissa places her portion beside her before speaking up. “Um, pause,” she cuts in. “I may not have had proper schooling, but even I know that the Jedi aren’t extinct. There’s one - the last Jedi - who defeated the Emperor and the Final Order. She was said to have been taught by Luke Skywalker and later by Leia Organa, but she disappeared after the war, and no one knows where she is.” Cora averts her gaze, not trying to reveal what she knows. Narissa and Landis both pick up on this, but Narissa only narrows her eyes in suspicion while Landis unabashedly interrogates her.

“Where did you say you were from, Corona?” he questions, and Cora blinks in bewilderment, unsure what this has to do with anything.

“I didn’t,” she answers slowly. Landis shrugs, humming, beginning to pace around the main hold.

“Well, I’m from Jakku,” he continues, taking this in a different direction than Cora anticipated. “Tuanul, to be precise, in the Kelvin Ravine. Most of my village was destroyed in a raid by the First Order, but there were survivors, like my parents, and they continued their warped religion devoted to the Force. After I ended up here, I learned more about what happened, and I found out that the last Jedi came from my planet. Like, I was an infant when she lived there. A scavenger, they said she was, who was roped into the war when she came into possession of a map leading to Luke Skywalker. For a while, I idolized her. One desert rat to another, you know? I mean, she defeated the darkness that plagued the galaxy!” He pauses, shaking his head at the magnitude of it all. “But I thought it was a bit odd that there’s not much known about _her_ . In the holorecords, she doesn’t even have a family name! And I’ve always kind of wondered about that.” He doesn’t elaborate, and at this point Cora knows what he’s doing. He’s quite good at it, she reasons, and he’d make a terrifying politician. He keeps talking, hoping Cora will connect the dots for him. When she doesn’t speak up, he continues, “And then I remembered that your grandmother is Leia Organa, and I thought, ‘Well, she must know _something_ about the last Jedi, then!’” He stops right in front of her, his pacing halted for the time being. “Where are you from, Corona?” he asks again. Cora’s lip quivers, and she has to stop herself from spilling all her secrets and only answer the question he asked.

“Tatooine,” she relents, and something flashes in Landis’s eyes that Cora isn’t certain of. He doesn’t say anything, and Cora narrows her eyes. “What?” she demands. Landis shakes his head, dismissing her.

“Oh, nothing,” he brushes off. He purses his lips, thinking it over, and inevitably choosing to speak his mind. “It’s just . . . again, from one desert rat to another, I just find it hard to believe you know so much about war heroes living on a wasteland like Tatooine, which isn’t known for being wealthy, and the only way you could know details about the war is if you had access to a personal datapad with holorecords . . . or from the source itself.” Landis looks at her expectantly. Cora crosses her arms, determined not to give him the answers he wants.

“I’m not sure what you’re implying, Landis, but I don’t see how any of this is relevant,” she bites back. Narissa laughs at the whole exchange.

“Oh my stars, you two should hear yourselves. I feel like I’m in a courtroom,” she comments. “Corey, he’s clearly implying that you’re the daughter of the last Jedi, and Landis, next time just spit it out. All those flowery words and descriptions were getting a bit ridiculous.” She hops off her crate, padding over to them. “So?” she asks, looking at Cora. “Is it true?” Cora knows it doesn’t make sense, but she finds it so much harder to lie to Narissa than Landis. She bites her lip, one last attempt not to reveal her biggest secret. The longer she looks at Narissa, she more her resolve crumbles.

“Yes,” she confesses. Narissa doesn’t react, but Landis breaks out into a smug grin.

“I knew it!” he cheers, and Cora glares at him, unamused. He meets her gaze and laughs. “Oh, come on, Corona. Don’t be like that. We were going to find out eventually.” She huffs, walking away from them both and down the corridor into the cockpit. BB-8 is there, beeping at a hologram on the console. Cora blinks, seeing the blue image of her mother flickering. BB-8 and Rey both turn to her, and Cora freezes.

“Cora?” Hearing her mum’s voice brings tears to her eyes. Cora hastily blinks them away, rushing into action to end the transmission. At best, BB-8 hasn’t given away their coordinates. At worst, her mum is already on her way. She knows the other end of the transmission is coming from Chandrila because of how strong the connection is, and she can’t risk being stopped now.

“Cora, wait, we can - !” Cora cuts off the transmission, turning to BB-8 and giving him a conspiratorial look.

“Does she know where we are?” she demands, and BB-8 informs her that, yes, her mother and uncle Finn should be on their way soon. “Kriff,” she swears. She’s running out of time, and there’s no way she’s going to figure out where the island is before her mum gets there, and -

“Hey.” Narissa’s voice interrupts Cora’s spiraling thoughts. Cora’s breaths are short, and she probably looks about as frazzled as she feels. Narissa frowns, her eyebrows knitting together in concern. “Is everything okay?” she asks tentatively.

“My mum is coming to get me,” Cora rushes out. “I need to get out of here, but I don’t know where to go, or if I’m going to need to refuel soon, or - ”

“Whoa, Corey, breathe.” Narissa places her hands on Cora’s shoulders. “We can go somewhere else on the planet for now until you figure out where your island is.” She looks distrustfully at BB-8. “You might, uh, want to shut down your droid, though, so that this doesn’t happen again.” Cora closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, nodding at Narissa’s words.

“Okay,” she resolves.

-

Now with BB-8 powered down and locked in the freight loading room - which has no ports, she checked - Cora sinks into the pilot’s seat in the cockpit, her fingers brushing over the controls. Narissa and Landis look at her expectantly, wondering why she’s hesitant. She doesn’t spare a glance at them, too focused on deciding where to go. She hadn’t planned on going anywhere other than Hanna City, but then again she hadn’t planned on her mother finding her, so plans can change quickly.

Looking at the expanse of hills around her, Cora starts the ship, flipping switches and buttons to prepare for the short journey. She sets off in sight of the mountains in the distance, hoping the elevation will provide them with enough coverage.

“This has to work,” she whispers to herself. Landis and Narissa share a look behind her. Unfortunately, since it’s such a short journey, Cora can’t set the ship to autopilot like she would in hyperspace, so she has no way of knowing what her friends are discussing behind her. Of course, she’s a decent pilot, but she wouldn’t dare risk damaging her mother’s ship after hijacking it and flying off on a mission her mother disapproves of.

“Where to, Corey?” Narissa pipes up after a few minutes in silence.

“The mountains,” she replies, not taking her eyes off the horizon, the mountains growing larger the closer they get. Landis sits down in the co-pilot’s chair, perhaps to get Cora’s attention, perhaps to make her feel less alone.

“So I was thinking,” he starts off. Cora snorts.

“That’s dangerous,” she replies flippantly. Landis frowns at her, unamused.

“Ha ha, very funny.” He rolls his eyes. “Anyway, I was thinking, there has to be a way to find your island without you pushing yourself too hard in your dreams.” He catches her eyes as she glances at him out of the corner of her eyes. “You know, to prevent the nosebleeds,” he clarifies. Cora huffs indignantly. He rubs the back of his neck, facing forward now. “Well, I think I figured out a way to narrow your search, but we’re going to need your droid for it.”

Cora really looks at him now, still keeping her hands on the controls. “No,” she presses, shaking her head. “I can’t trust BB-8 right now, not after he gave me away to my mother so easily.” She faces forward again, ending the discussion on her part.

“Corona,” Landis sighs. “I know you feel betrayed, but your droid cares about you. He’s helped you before, even if he has his own agenda. He’ll help you again.” He shrugs. “Besides, he won’t have the chance to plug into a port with all of us around.”

Cora doesn’t say anything, still contemplating it. It isn’t until she’s attempting to land in the snow with the winds blowing at her from every direction that Landis speaks up again.

“Corona,” he tries again. Now that they’re landed, Cora turns her chair to face him. She raises an eyebrow, shaking her head as if to say, _I’m listening_. “Can you trust me on this?” He tilts his head, and Cora thinks he looks a little pathetic. She isn’t sure if it’s pity or trust that makes her say yes.

“Okay,” she relents, and Landis smiles at her, nothing hidden in his gaze as he expresses his joy.

“You won’t regret this,” he swears, stumbling out of his seat and down the hall toward the main hold.

-

BB-8 beeps at her that he didn’t appreciate being powered off and that he thinks she should just reunite with her mother. Cora shakes her head at him, pursing her lips.

“No can do, BB-8,” she tells him. “Mum wants to take me home, but I _need_ to find dad.” He beeps a snarky reply that maybe if she would just talk to her mum then she would see that her mother is more open to the idea now. Cora scoffs. “Oh, come on! She said I was being delusional, and now you’re telling me she wants to help me? I don’t think so.” She knows she’s being stubborn, but right now she doesn’t trust BB-8. Come to think of it, she doesn’t trust anyone but herself.

“Is he ready?” Landis asks, approaching her from behind. Cora nods, turning away from her droid and facing Landis. “This is going to work,” Landis promises her, squeezing her hands in reassurance.

For the next few minutes, Landis works with BB-8 until there’s a star map displayed throughout the main hold. Cora blinks in the hologram, unsure she’s ever seen something this beautiful. Landis grins up at her, and Cora grins back, laughing in disbelief.

“What is all this?” she asks, spinning in a circle of stars.

“This is going to help you find your island,” he declares. She looks at him doubtfully, but he doesn’t notice. “Okay,” he says, looking back at her. “Describe your island for me.” She scrunches her face, thinking it over.

“Well, I think most of the planet is made of water, because the islands aren’t that big, and in my visions it always feels like there’s a moisture in the air and on my skin that won’t ever go away,” she describes. Landis looks at BB-8 expectantly.

“All right, BB-8, take out the planets with no large expanses of water,” he instructs the droid. BB-8 does as he’s told, and half the map blinks out, leaving Cora surrounded only by stars where she’s standing. Landis looks back at her. “Do you think you can pick out your island yet?” he asks, but she shakes her head. “Okay, then keep going,” he prompts.

“All right.” She nods, closing her eyes and tugging on her curls as she thinks of the island she now sees behind her eyelids whenever she sleeps. “The island has lots of grass, and it’s soft under my feet. The rocks are the most unique part of the island. A lot of them are natural, but there’s a great deal of them that have been shaped by man. There’s steep cliffs, and there’s a cave at the bottom of the island. I haven’t gone in there, but it’s dark and cold and sinister. I think it’s to balance out the Light, which is in full force at the highest point on the island in the Jedi temple.” Cora’s breathing evens, and when she opens her eyes there’s a bright orange dot in front of her. She doesn’t even remember moving, but now she’s in a corner of the room, the orange dot of the star map the only light. She whirls around to see Landis perched next to BB-8 where he was before and Narissa staring at her curiously from her spot on the crate that she so enjoys to sit on. “I . . .” she stutters, unsure what to say. Landis jumps up, his wide smile taking the words right out of her mouth.

“You found it!” he cheers, and Cora’s nodding, her lips stretching so far she’s worried she’ll have permanent damage, but she doesn’t care because _she’s found him_. Maybe not in the literal sense, but she knows where to go to find him. She turns back to the orange dot just as it winks out, BB-8 shutting off the star map.


	8. R E Y

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey opens up about her grief. Finn does his best to keep her spirits up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi i'm sorry it's been a few weeks but adjusting to school has really kicked my ass. i've really wanted to finish this for some time now, and i finally got around to it today. forewarning, sorry for the cliffhanger. pls don't kill me. i promise you'll love me again by the next chapter :)
> 
> also, i just thought i'd share that i listen to a lot of musical soundtracks while i write, and two of the songs i listened to a lot while writing this chapter are set yourself free from tangled the series and someday from the hunchback of notre dame musical. if you guys are interested in what music helps shape this story, i'll continue to put my playlist of sorts at the beginning of each chapter!! :)

Rey stares at the empty field, the galaxy crumbling on her shoulders once again as she is still separated from her daughter. Part of her knew this was going to happen, after Cora had hastily ended the transmission and probably forced BB-8 to tell her what had been said between the droid and her mother. Even so, Rey cannot help feeling like she’s failed, and it feels worse than failing any of Master Luke’s ridiculous lessons.

Frustrated, she throws her lightsaber across the ship, causing Finn to look at her warily. “We’re going to find her, Rey,” he informs his friend, but right now the words go over Rey’s head. Everything is white noise except for the voice chanting in the back of her head that _You brought this upon yourself_. Rey shakes her head, not meeting Finn’s stare.

“She won’t even talk to me.” She pushes herself out of the pilot’s seat, walking to the back of the ship where it’s quiet. Rey has been reluctant to admit it, but she _needs_ Cora. Her daughter’s steady light is the only thing that still keeps her sane, and her chest hurts the longer they’re apart.

R2-D2 beeps at her uncertainly, and Rey smiles sadly at the droid. “No, Artoo, Cora isn’t here,” she admits. Artoo asks her why the girl doesn’t want to be found, and Rey sighs, brushing her hand over Artoo’s rounded head. “I don’t think she trusts me very much at the moment,” she confesses. Artoo beeps that that’s ridiculous, and Rey laughs at his declaration. “Yeah, well, she doesn’t seem to think so.”

Rey lowers the boarding ramp, the rolling hills of Chandrila fanning out around her as she leaves the ship behind. For the past few days she’s been kept inside different spaces, and she misses the open land of her farm on Tatooine, so the grassy area around her serves its purpose in giving her room to breathe. As much as she loves the rush of flying, Rey forgot how much she hated the confinements of ships. Leia’s penthouse apartment wasn’t much better. Rey had hoped that the distraction of locating Cora would be enough to keep her claustrophobic feelings at bay, but the failure of that endeavor pushed all her anxieties to the surface.

Now, she breathes in the unpolluted air, a wind brushing around her and making the grass dance at her feet. Rey ventures further from the ship, hoping the distance will clear her thoughts.

She comes to a stop atop a hill a good distance from the ship, sinking to the ground, her legs crossed. Rey’s eyes close, willing herself to concentrate on the tether that binds everything together, leaving her senses behind on the hill. She reaches out, following the string that connects her to her daughter and _pulls_ . It gives, and for the first time since Cora parted from her mother, Rey feels the warmth of her daughter’s light. Tentatively, she brushes the edges of Cora’s mind, probing for an opening. After a moment, she finds a fragment of her mind that latches onto her the second she touches it. Rey is startled by the intense feeling that overflows in her from Cora. Idly, she recognizes that feeling as longing. She knows it well, as she once felt the same when she thought of her parents back when she lived on Jakku. She isn’t sure how she feels about Cora having similar feelings, but she does her best to assuage the feeling. This only makes Cora cling to her harder, and Rey gives in to her own desire to hold her daughter again. Sure, it’s not exactly the same, but it’s enough for Rey that Cora knows how much she loves her and that she will always be there for her. _I’m right here, Starlight._ She feels the echoes of sobs through the Force, and she thinks some of them may be her own.

_Mum_ , Cora finally replies, the internal voice thick with emotion.

_Please don’t shut me out_ , she begs. Cora doesn’t respond for a while, and Rey worries she’s scared her away. Then a small voice answers her.

_I can’t let you stop me._ Then the brief connection is over, and Rey is left blinking in the fading afternoon light of Chandrila. It takes her a minute to realize her body is trembling, and without thinking she slams her shaking hands onto the ground, her fingers gripping blades of grass tightly. Rey attempts to even her breathing, her hands unfurling, covered in grass stains and pieces of grass that she pulled from the dirt in her frazzled state. Once she’s calmed down, she brushes her hands on her gray pants, erasing the remnants of her bout of anxiety.

Huffing out a long breath, Rey reaches behind her to fix the single knot at the back of her head, tugging on it to ensure its security. The rest of her hair hangs freely down her back, stopping closer to the base of her spine. She knows it’s longer due to her inability to keep up with it, but for a while she saw no point in cutting it. She supposes it wasn’t one of her most thought out decisions, since the heat on Tatooine is brutal, but she simply reverts to her three bun hairstyle during the day when she’s working and lets it down once the sun has gone down, so in the end it doesn’t bother her all that much.

Following Ben’s death, Rey had made a lot of impulsive decisions, like isolating herself away on Tatooine, or relentlessly searching Kef Bir for Ben’s lightsaber to harvest his damaged crystal, or taking a pair of scissors to her hair and cutting it to her chin. Admittedly, not one of her finest decisions. It had barely brushed her shoulders by the time she had given birth to Cora. After that episode, Rey decided to give more thought to her impulses, but sometimes she thinks too much, so in the end it never gets done, like maintaining the length of her hair.

Cora is different in that respect. She dutifully washes her hair every day, mixing products in her still wet head to produce the neat curls, and she travels to a salon in Mos Eisley every three months to get her hair trimmed. Rey wouldn’t consider her daughter vain, her hair being the only part of her physical appearance that she takes pride in, if only to keep the curls from becoming unruly. If she’s being honest, though, Rey is grateful that Cora is old enough to maintain her hair, as Rey had no idea how to approach her daughter’s hair when she was younger. She had to learn how to braid hair because that was the only way she knew how to contain Cora’s mass of hair.

Now Rey longs to comb her fingers through her daughter’s hair, shaking the sand out from a day roaming the area around the farm. Cora doesn’t let her do this anymore, of course, but she more aches for any physical contact with the strong-willed girl. When she was born, Rey swore that nothing would ever keep them apart, and knowing it was her own doing that drove her daughter away has her beating herself up on the inside.

“There was no need to run off, you know,” Finn comments as he reaches her side. Rey blinks, turning her head to the left, caught off guard by him. She relaxes her shoulders that had tensed in surprise when he spoke, shrugging off his worry.

“I needed to be alone,” she replies, starting down the hill back toward the ship. Finn hurries to keep up with her, matching her pace.

“Yeah, that’s something you’ve needed for quite some time,” he remarks. Rey glances at him in her peripheral vision. She isn’t sure if he means to make the jab at her, but she does her best not to react to it.

“The only way I know how to grieve is by being alone,” she confesses. “Then I found myself able to confide in someone else, and it was nice, for once, to have someone see me so completely and not be overwhelmed by me. It was almost like looking in a mirror, sometimes.” Her words falter, her heart nearly unwilling to once again admit what she’s been struggling with for fourteen years. Rey’s eyes meet Finn’s as she looks at him sadly. “But then he was gone, and I was alone again, so I reverted back to my old habits. Now, I have Cora, and I’ve been better in managing my grief with her around, but in a sense she’s gone, too, so I can’t help the voice inside telling me to put up my walls to keep others from seeing the way I’m hurting.” She rubs her arm nervously, hesitant in opening up to the man who’s supposed to be her best friend, unable to rid herself of her skittish nature after so many years on Jakku. She supposes if her life hadn’t taken a turn so drastic, she’d still be scavenging in the desert, waiting in a fool’s hope for her parents to return. Rey wonders if she would’ve ever been able to admit to herself what she always knew on some level. She wonders if she still would’ve been bonded to Ben.

Finn’s eyes soften, a kind of understanding passing between the two. “I know you feel like you need to be alone, but I find it’s always easier with someone to lean on,” he offers. Then, more serious, he adds, “You’ve never let yourself properly grieve for him, you know. You just showed up on Takodana a few months after the war ended, told me you were pregnant, went back into your self-designated exile, arrived on Naboo to give birth, and then as soon as you were able you went back into isolation on Tatooine. It’s just . . . you are allowed to talk about him, Rey. You don’t have to punish yourself by blaming yourself for his death.”

By now the pair has reached the hill the ship resides on, and Rey sighs, plopping down onto the grass in front of it. Finn sits down slowly next to her. “I don’t blame myself for his death,” she reveals. “At least, not anymore. I’ve had plenty of time to come to terms with _that_ aspect of things. No, most days I think about how unfair it all is. He brought me back, probably some part of him knowing it would kill him. He gave me _Cora_ , and even if he is out there, there’s no way to get the early years of her life back. If I’m being completely honest, though, I mostly think about the fact that I never got to tell him I love him, and I don’t know if I’ll ever get to now.”

Finn leans back against the hull of the ship, letting out a long whistle. “That’s a lot to unpack there, Rey. I wish I could say I know where you’re coming from, but frankly I’m not sure anyone in the galaxy has a situation similar to yours in any way.” He shrugs, or, at least, that’s what it looks like, but the attempt is very poor with his shoulders pressed against the ship.

Rey angles her body to face him, her eyes open and vulnerable. “Is it selfish of me to believe I could get him back?” Finn contemplates her before he answers.

“Look, Rey, I’m not going to pretend I actually knew him, but if it were me, separated from Rose even if I still had my kids with me, I think I’d always be looking for a way to bring her back,” he tells her. “And _you_ \- you have never taken anything for yourself. Sure, you may have selfish whims, but who doesn’t? But when it comes down to it, what have you ever gotten out of all the good you’ve done?” Rey almost responds, but Finn stops her. “And don’t say Cora. That doesn’t count. It has to be something you wanted beforehand.” She purses her lips, unsure how to rebut that.

“I did want that, though,” she counters, closing her eyes and leaning her head back against the ship as she sees the vision she saw in the hut on Ahch-To all those years ago. “I wanted a family of my own. I wanted a family with _Ben_. When we were on Pasaana, and there was the festival and all those kids and their families, I indulged in that future again. We almost had that, too. I think that’s my least favorite word: almost. We were almost in love. He almost made it. I was almost happy. I’ve just learned not to dwell too much on the almosts of my life.” Rey sighs, opening her eyes, glassy with unshed tears, and turning her head toward Finn. “Is that enough grieving for you? Can I be alone now?” He frowns but still nods in acceptance.

“Yes, Rey, I’ll leave you alone now,” he relents, standing and disappearing into the ship.

Rey breathes in deeply, calmed by the sounds of nature around her. She wipes the backs of her hands against her eyes, stopping the tears from falling. She wishes he was here. Perhaps the last selfish thing she’s ever hoped for so desperately in a long list of other selfish whims. She looses a sardonic laugh, thinking about the irony of what Finn claimed about her being selfless. Rey thinks the last fourteen years she’s been selfish, stowing herself away in a forgettable corner of the galaxy.

Abruptly, she feels the air shift, a pull in the Force. Rey startles to attention, standing up in response. Her heart is beating rapidly, her eyes flitting around the horizon, but there’s no indication that anything’s changed. Rey relaxes her shoulders, leaning against the ship and shaking her head.

“You need to stop letting your guard down,” she scolds herself. She rubs her hands up and down her bare arms, only now registering the chill in the air. She turns to go back into the ship, but a tug stops her. Breath hitched, not daring to let herself turn around, Rey hesitantly calls out, “Ben?”


	9. B E N

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben finally gets what he's been hoping for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> god it's been too long, but school has been kicking my ass and keeping me busy that i physically don't have the energy to write when i have free time. however, for once i'm a little ahead on my work, and i just had to crank this out. i was hoping to finish this sooner bc this chapter has what you've all been waiting for: reylo. enjoy your meal, kids, bc they won't see each other again for several more chapters lmao.
> 
> my information on the world between worlds comes from this post in case anyone is interested in reading up on it!! --> https://tcookies.tumblr.com/post/190025831787/here-is-all-the-possible-evidence-i-could-find-on
> 
> no one asked for my playlist but i'm sharing it anyway:  
> all i ask of you - josh groban and kelly clarkson  
> flowers - eva noblezada  
> evermore - dylan letorney

Ben isn’t sure he’s breathing. Well, to be fair, he’s never sure if he’s breathing in this realm that exists beyond space and time, but he’s not actively moving his chest to give the appearance that he’s breathing.

He doesn’t dare speak, afraid the mirage will fade away and he’ll be alone again. He won’t let himself believe it’s true, believe she’s really here. He hasn’t stopped staring at her, a beacon silhouetted in this otherwise empty void. Her back still faces him, but it’s definitely her. Even if he didn’t recognize her appearance, he’d know the way it felt to be around her.

Ben wants to reach out, to know if this is real, if  _ she’s  _ real. Instead, he stands, frozen, hoping she’ll turn around, hoping she’ll say something other than his name.  _ Please _ , his mind begs.  _ Please, see me. Tell me this is real. _

Faster than he can blink, she whips her head around, bright hazel eyes wide and brimming with emotion. As his eyes memorize every inch of her, he can’t help noting how beautiful she still is, the years only enhancing everything he found enchanting about her. Her hair is loose, her singular bun almost free of its binding. The light tunic she wears blows about in a wind that must be wherever she is. Her hands shake as she reaches out, taking a few steps forward as she does so. The moment her fingers brush his face brings him back to life.

“Ben,” she says again, this time full of relief and longing and - dare he hope it - love. A spell has broken over him, and his face splits into a grin of pure radiance.

“Rey,” he sighs, every emotion he’s been holding in for the past however many years finally being released in that single syllable. He doesn’t care how she’s here; he’ll take whatever time with her he can get.

“This is really you,” she states, though it sounds as if she’s waiting for confirmation from him. He nods, drawing his hands to her cheeks, his thumbs brushing away the tears streaming down her lovely face. “I thought I’d never see you again,” she sobs, her arms embracing him as she buries her face in his chest.

“I thought you’d given up on me,” he says quietly, and Rey stifles her sobs, looking up at him and taking a step back to collect herself. She sniffles, wiping the evidence of her feelings off her face, meeting his gaze.

“You were dead,” she deadpans. Ben looks at her curiously, because he knows he isn’t technically dead, but he supposes since time works differently here perhaps for a time he did seem to have ceased existing. “I  _ felt  _ it. You were dead, and I was alone, and there was a hole in my chest. I didn’t give up on you. I couldn’t  _ feel  _ you in the Force. You were just . . .  _ gone _ , but I couldn’t afford to stop living even if I wanted to.”

“Our daughter,” he clarifies. “Yes, I’ve met her. She’s wonderful, Rey. She has so much light in her that I dared to hope again that I would see you. She reminds me so much of you. She’s so determined and strong, and I would give anything for her to smile at me again. I don’t even know her, yet I already love her, like she’s an extension of myself or something.” Rey smiles sadly at him.

“That’s because she is,” she reveals, and Ben furrows his brow in confusion.

“I don’t understand,” he says, and Rey sighs, rubbing her forehead.

“Truthfully, sometimes it’s hard for me to wrap my head around as well,” she starts, but this does little to help him understand. Her eyes flit upward, realizing she hadn’t given him a straight answer. “When you . . .” She swallows. “When you brought me back, you transferred your life force to me, but you gave everything, more than you needed, and because there was an excess of it, that extra life force adapted and manifested in a new person . . . and that’s Cora.” She wrings her hands together nervously, unsure how he’ll process the news. True, it’s a lot to take in, but it’s not the most outlandish explanation he’s ever heard, and he doesn’t feel as if Rey has any reason to lie to him. After all, whenever it’s just been the two of them alone, they’ve never lied to each other. He doesn’t figure she’ll start now.

Ben nods, not an answer but at least a reaction to let her know he’s heard and understood her. “Okay,” he starts out, rubbing his chin as he begins to pace. “I guess this is just another weird trick the Force decided to play on my family, as if we haven’t been dealt enough bantha shit to last generations. I’m sorry, of course, that you were dragged into it and violated like that. I didn’t think I was strong enough to bring you back, so I guess I pushed too much.” Rey grasps both his hands in hers, drawing his attention back to her.

“Ben, you saved me,” she implores. Her eyes falter a bit. “After . . . after you disappeared, I isolated myself from everyone.” She draws a shuddering breath. “I was going to let myself die there if I hadn’t discovered I was pregnant.” Ben’s hands unconsciously grip hers tighter, unable to bear the thought of her dying  _ again _ , because of him, no less.

Ben’s eyes harden. “I didn’t save you just for you to waste that life,” he says in a low voice. “I saved you because I love you. I was never really living until I met you, and I couldn’t go back to that.” Rey’s breath hitches, caught off guard by the slightly aggressive confession. Tears gather in her eyes, threatening to spill over. Both of her hands grasp at his face desperately. She presses her forehead on his, attempting to memorize the feel of him.

“I never thought I’d get to tell you I love you, but hearing you say it now reminded me how much I needed you to know that I do . . . love you, that is,” she whispers, her breath fanning against his lips. Ben’s eyes flutter shut as she speaks. She begins to lean forward, but Ben pulls back, and Rey’s eyes snap open, flashing with hurt. She drops her hands from his face, stepping back, but Ben grabs one hand, reassuring her that she’s done nothing wrong.

“Rey,” he starts gently, pulling her back toward him. As she draws nearer, Ben softly brushes back a strand of hair, getting as close to her as he dares. “Surely you must know that I’d like nothing more than to kiss you right now, but the next time I kiss you is going to be in person,” he swears. Rey doesn’t look convinced.

“What if we don’t get - ” she worries, but Ben stops her.

“I have hope,” he declares, his eyes boring into hers. “And faith, in you and our daughter.” He purses his lips. “But you two need to work together to get me out of here,” he warns, his eyes once again taking in the darkness surrounding him. “There must be a reason you could never reach me on your own. You’re not my only tether to the living. I need both of you.”

Tears stream down her face as she brokenly laments, “I don’t even know where you are.” Her grip on him tightens, terrified of letting him go, terrified she won’t see him again if she does. He knows the feeling well.

Gently combing his fingers through her hair, he does his best to console her. “I’m not anywhere, really,” he informs her, but this only makes Rey furrow her brow. “I’m in a place not bound by the rules of space and time, a . . . a vergence scatter.” He pauses for a second, lost in thought. “Tell me, Rey, have you ever heard of a . . . a Chain Worlds Theorem?” he asks, eyes staring into her tormented soul. Her eyes flash at the words, but Ben doesn’t notice any recognition. He chuckles, not really all that surprised. If his uncle hadn’t always been tinkering with that compass, Ben might know nothing about this place himself. “It’s unsurprising that you don’t, but I thought I’d ask anyway. I only know about it because of my uncle’s incessant poring over any bit of text to help him find the first Jedi Temple. Anyway, a vergence is a Force phenomenon centered around a place, object, or person. It’s like . . . like a gathering of energy. The Wayfinders! They led to Exegol, yes, but they were drawn to the vergence in the Force there. What I’m trying to say is that there are entrances to this place, and there’s one on Exegol, just as there is one on whatever planet my uncle was hiding out on.”

“The island,” she whispers to herself, eyes unfocused. A moment later she snaps back to reality. “How will I ever find the entrance, though? In places that are focal points for the Force, it’s difficult to make sense of anything, really. When I trained with Luke, I was hardly myself.” Rey chews on her thumb, lost in thought. Ben runs his hand across her cheek, causing her eyes to focus on his face. His lips quirk up at the edges, the beginnings of a smile, at her thinking face.

“Rey, the Force generally has a way of revealing itself to those who are willing to let it in. That’s one of the things I learned from my uncle that was actually useful. It’s something our daughter seems to be figuring out for herself.” Ben doesn’t mean to keep bringing this back to Cora, but he’d be lying if he said he doesn’t relish in speaking of her, because the more he talks about her the realer the fact that he even has a daughter becomes to him.

Rey crosses her arms, her eyes downcast. “I’m scared, Ben,” she whispers. “I’m scared she’ll go to a place she can’t come back from. She recently became surrounded by a cold presence, but I can’t even see her in the Force to be able to help her. I know she’s good and only wants to make things right, but I don’t know that I trust her new companions not to corrupt her.” Rey abruptly looks up, eyes welled with tears. “I can’t lose her, Ben. I don’t . . . I’m not strong enough for that.” Ben gives her a tired smile.

“You just have to trust her, Rey. She’s going to lead you to me, and then we’ll see each other for real,” he promises. Rey’s lip trembles, almost as if she wants to believe him but won’t let herself.

“She has very little knowledge of the Force,” she points out. “If I can’t find you, how will she?” Ben shrugs.

“She found me once. I believe she can do it again,” he reveals. “And she doesn’t have to be educated in the Force like you or me to be able to follow her instincts. The Force isn’t a subject for her to master; it just  _ is _ . It exists, and if she just reaches out, it will reach back.”

“But - ” she begins to counter, but Ben cuts her off.

“Find her, and you’ll find me,” he states with assuredness. Rey closes her mouth, her argument dying on her lips, and nods. She circles her arms around him, nestling her head to his chest, listening to his heartbeat, wanting to memorize the feeling of being in his arms for whenever the Force decides to separate them. Ben returns the embrace, tucking her under his chin as he finally relaxes. Rey has a warmth about her that he hasn’t felt for a long time, and he’s too selfish to let it go just yet. Holding her feels real, and for a moment he sees a future not so far off, and it’s so similar to the way he holds her now that Ben starts to believe in it. He’s still holding on to that thought when she fades from view.


	10. C O R A

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cora and her friends journey to Ahch-To.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the kids are all right.
> 
> i honestly wasn't expecting to crank out another chapter this week, but here we are. i'm truly excited to be getting into the heart of this story!! i told myself this book would be 20 chapters, but we're already at chapter ten and there's still a lot left to tell, so we'll see ;)
> 
> my chapter playlist:  
> the view from up here - mandy moore and eden espinosa  
> pure imagination - josh groban  
> when will my life begin (reprise 2) - mandy moore

Cora feels Landis’s presence before she sees him. That’s been happening a lot the past few days. While the two haven’t spoken much, they can both feel the change in the Force when they’re near each other. Neither of them know what it is, and they both pretend to ignore it, so it’s been an awkward few days.

Maybe she has a silly crush on him, but that’s hardly her fault. Cora can count all of her friends on one hand, and only one of them is a slightly older boy who smiles at her and makes her a little breathless, so it’s not hard to see why she would develop romantic feelings for him, not to mention he’s easy on the eyes. Of course, she’d never tell him this, nor would she confess something so personal to Narissa, so she stews in silence. 

Truthfully, Cora is a little intimidated by her older friends. They appear lightyears wiser than her, their lives on the streets of Chandrila aging them beyond their years. Cora feels like she’s never seen anything compared to them. All her life she’s been sheltered away on Tatooine, and the few times she’s been off world she’s barely had any interaction with any other people, so it feels as if she’s inside a bubble, one constructed by her mother with the intent of keeping her safe from whatever could possibly hurt her. Sometimes Cora wishes she’d had the opportunity to have been hurt, because at least then she wouldn’t be terrified of her friends no longer being in her life. True, they haven’t known each other long, but the connection somehow already runs deep, and she isn’t sure it’s something she could easily let go.

“Hey,” Landis says, approaching from behind and pulling Cora from her thoughts. She blinks, spinning around in the pilot’s seat to face him. He’s barely a foot away from her, and Cora internally curses him for his ability to startle her so easily.

“Hi,” she replies, if only to fill the cockpit with a sound other than silence. Landis breaks their eye contact, rubbing the back of his neck in that nervous way he does. He sits in the chair beside her, clearing his throat as he tries to find the right words to say.

“So,” he starts, “I think we should talk about this weird feeling that we’ve been circling around for the past few days.” The room once again looms with silence, and the stars streaking past them highlight the lines of his face. Cora curses him a second time for looking that effortlessly beautiful. She stops herself from spiraling down that train of thought, forcing herself to focus on the impending conversation.

“I really don’t know what there is to say,” she deflects. Landis narrows his eyes but otherwise doesn’t acknowledge her comment. Instead, he continues barreling on whatever he had planned to say when he walked in here.

“I know you aren’t that well versed in knowledge of the Force, but I have picked up a thing or two over the years,” he continues. Cora whirls her chair to face forward, pretending to check their course but making it quite clear she’s still listening to him. “We don’t . . . we don’t have one of those Force bonds, right?” For someone who claims to know about the Force, he sure seems to be looking toward her for answers. She glances at him in her peripheral vision, considering him for a moment before blowing out a breath of air.

“No,” she finally confirms, and Landis visibly relaxes. Cora schools her expression to mask the slight hurt she feels at his reaction, instead prattling on to keep her mind off it. “My mum said she and my father could communicate through the Force, across space and time. As far as I can tell, it’s just a . . . a calm feeling of our Force signatures recognizing each other.” She goes back to her frivolous inspection of coordinates and course trajectory, hoping he’ll take the hint and leave her alone.

Really, it’s her own fault for thinking he’d ever do that. Landis leans across the space between them, propping his elbows on his knees, chin in his hands as he grins cheekily at her. Cora rolls her eyes, telling herself she doesn’t find it endearing, but this only makes him smile wider.

“So is this a ‘your Force signature likes my Force signature’ kind of thing?” he jokes. Cora frowns at him, but her cheeks heat at the implication.

“No,” she sniffs stubbornly. “My Force signature doesn’t want to associate with your Force signature.” She crosses her arms, daring him to challenge her further. He tries to stifle his laughter, though he fails miserably.

“Oh, come on, Corona! I think we’re past making up petty excuses at this point. We’re friends, aren’t we? I mean, your Force signature recognizes my Force signature. I’m pretty sure that makes us friends at the very least,” he teases. Cora shakes her head, unable to keep herself from cracking a smile. He lets out an excited noise at her expression, and she snorts in response. “Aha! See, we’re definitely friends. I broke through that wall you put up.” Cora’s heart warms at the thought of him wanting to get to know her. Not many people have really looked beneath the surface. She wishes she could express how she feels without sounding so sentimental.

“You’re a strange boy, Landis,” is all she says, though. He shrugs, not bothering to deny it.

“Eh, you learn to roll with what you’ve got. If I’m the freaky Force sensitive kid who tries to make friends with every runaway he meets, so be it.” He spreads his arms, totally owning who he is. Cora appreciates how unapologetically himself he is. Much as she feels connected with Narissa, Cora can’t seem to get past her barriers. There’s always something deeper hidden behind her stormy gaze.

Cora’s face softens, her shoulders sagging in relaxation. “You probably shouldn’t try to befriend _every_ runaway you meet,” she points out. He contemplates her a minute before responding.

“You’re right,” he starts, and she sits up straighter, her pride flaring up slightly at the admission. “Only the ones that my Force signature likes.” He winks, and Cora blinks, not expecting that addition.

“You’re unbelievable,” she comments off-handedly. Landis sits up, shifting uncomfortably.

“I do like being around you,” he amends, meeting her eyes. Cora feels trapped in his gaze, unable to break it. “When I’m with you, all the noises I hear in my head fall quiet. It’s . . . nice, calming even. I don’t get enough of that feeling.” Cora’s throat tightens, unsure how to respond. Landis sees her blanched face and takes pity on her. “I didn’t mean to freak you out,” he promises, patting her knee as he moves to stand. He pauses at the entryway, turning to face her. “I just wanted us to be on the same page,” he clarifies as he departs down the corridor.

Cora sits in the cockpit a while longer, stars dancing on her face as she turns Landis’s words over in her head.

-

Cora wakes to Narissa shaking her relentlessly. She blinks up at the blonde girl, not entirely conscious yet. “Riss?” she says drowsily, rubbing her eyes. She pushes herself into a sitting position on her bunk, finally coming to attention. “What is it?”

“We’re coming out of hyperspace,” Narissa reveals excitedly. Cora hops off her bunk, pushing past her friend and running through the _Falcon_ to the cockpit. Landis is sitting in the pilot’s chair when she comes in, and she makes a face at him that makes him hastily switch into the co-pilot’s seat. She nods at him in acknowledgement, pleased by his actions. She drops unceremoniously into the seat where Landis was sitting moments ago. Cora hears Narissa’s steps as she finally strolls into the cockpit, but she’s barely paying any attention as the _Falcon_ smoothly jolts out of hyperspace and a blue planet comes into view.

Cora’s never been there before, but she feels the pull in the Force that would be enticing to any Force sensitive individual. She looks at Landis and Narissa as she asks, “Do you feel it?” Landis nods in affirmation, but Narissa’s face pales as the new presence washes over her. Cora’s eyebrows furrow. “What’s wrong?” she asks, confused. Narissa shakes her head, swallowing audibly.

“Nothing,” she dismisses, smiling a moment later. “Really, I’m sure it was just the shock of feeling something that strong.” She nods at Cora. “But I appreciate the concern, Corey.” Cora grins reassuringly at her, but internally she’s puzzling over what Narissa is neglecting to tell her. Instead of dwelling on it, she turns back to the controls of the ship to guide them to the island from her dreams. She more or less relies on the Force to point her in the right direction since she has no idea where she’s going, and all she sees as they enter the atmosphere is endless _ocean, ocean, ocean_. It’s a startling adjustment for someone who’s lived on a desert planet her entire life, and Cora looses a breath at it all.

“I could easily disappear here forever and be happy,” Landis declares, breaking Cora from her trance. She glances at him out of the corner of her eye, laughing at his comment. Narissa laughs a beat too late, her merriment halfhearted. Cora tries to ignore it.

“I don’t think you could do it,” Narissa challenges. Cora sees Landis scrunch his face up at his partner in crime.

“I so could,” he defends, crossing his arms stubbornly.

“You could not,” Narissa rebuts. “You love socializing too much. You’d get too bored here all by your lonesome.” Landis leans over the back of his chair, a ridiculous grin on his face.

“But I wouldn’t be alone,” he emphasizes. “I’d have you two.” Cora blinks at his words, whipping her head to look at him properly before scoffing. Narissa doesn’t hesitate in replying.

“I’d never stay here,” she says seriously. An odd feeling washes over Cora at her words, and she tries to shake off the uncomfortable feeling she gets at her friend’s tone.

Landis doesn’t seem to notice, waving Narissa off. “Relax, Riss. I’m not actually going to become a cavedweller, so don’t get your panties in a twist. We’ll be out of here as soon as Corona finds her dad.” Narissa narrows her eyes at the boy but doesn’t respond. Cora clears her throat to break the tension.

“I, um, think this is it,” she reveals quietly as an island comes into view. It looks just as it does in her dreams. The sun is beginning to rise over the horizon, and Cora is sure she’s never seen something so spectacular. Landis turns away from Narissa, his curiosity getting the better of him. His eyes widen in excitement at the sight that greets him.

“Wow,” he breathes. “So this is what you see inside your head, huh?” he directs at Cora. She barely acknowledges him with a slight nod. She’s too busy trying to find where to land the ship. It was easier when she landed on Chandrila, with all its rolling hills and open spaces, but this new planet only seems to consist of small islands with rocky terrain. As much as she likes to tell herself she’s an experienced pilot, she’s never really been tested, and most of the time her mum is in the pilot’s chair with her in the co-pilot’s seat. Her mum gets uneasy letting her fly this ship, and Cora sort of understands why. The _Millennium Falcon_ is kind of a piece of junk. Still, she’d trust it to get her from one side of the galaxy to the other, and that’s what it’s done for her on this journey. Truthfully, Cora hasn’t a clue how her mother ended up with this ship, despite the ship belonging to Cora’s grandfather. As far as Cora knows, her parents weren’t married, and she’s never met her grandfather, so she doubts her father’s family even knows she exists.

Shaking her head to rid herself of questions she’s pondered for years now, Cora looks for the best place to land. She wishes she could land on top of the island, but there’s no good space, so she gives in and lands on the rocky surface near the shore. As soon as the ship touches the ground, Cora’s shoulders relax, knowing she hasn’t caused the ship more damage than it already has.

Landis is the first to rush down the ramp, whooping all the while in celebration that they’ve finally arrived after days of being cooped up in the _Falcon_. Narissa follows him, less enthusiastic and more on guard, despite the lack of reason to believe there’s any threat on this island. Cora can’t seem to recall seeing anything harmful here in her dreams. Still, she lingers at the top of the ramp, hesitant to take this first step that will undoubtedly alter her life in one way or another. Landis senses her uneasiness and turns back toward the ramp.

“Hey, Corona, aren’t you coming? We did come all this way for _you_!” he calls out, competing with the sound of waves crashing over the rocks. Cora bites her lip, inching down the ramp at a ridiculously slow pace. Landis rolls his eyes before jogging over to her. “What gives, farm girl?”

Cora sighs, looking up at the grassy hill that leads to the first Jedi Temple. “It’s just . . . I’ve been dreaming of this for so long, and now that I’m here . . . what if it’s not anything like I dreamed it would be?” she despairs. Landis lets out a breath, shaking his head in amusement at her.

“It will be,” he promises, though Cora isn’t certain she believes him. “And hey,” he continues, shrugging, “if it’s not everything you’ve dreamed, you get to find something new to dream about.” Cora blinks, thinking it over. She supposes his optimistic outlook on her situation does have merit.

Abruptly, she nods, rushing the rest of the way down the ramp and begins her ascent to the top of the island. Landis sputters, chasing after her. Cora barely notices, instead laughing at the rush of joy she feels the closer she gets to the top. She’s never felt as free as she does at this moment, the sea breeze whipping her hair and tunic this way and that, the Force humming around her in this sacred place. She’s out of breath by the time she gets to the small field below the temple, and as she stares up at it in wonder and awe, she decides she hasn’t yet worked up the courage to go inside. Instead of dwelling on it, Cora approaches the precipice overlooking the ocean, breathing heavily as she’s still reeling, trying to take it all in. She whirls around as she hears Landis finally catching up with her, and she laughs at the absurdity of it all - that they’re actually _here_ \- and grins widely, so elated that her face may split in two.

“I can’t believe I’m here,” she gushes as he approaches. He chuckles at her excitement, his eyes gleaming at the feeling that passes between them.

“So,” he queries, “is it everything you’ve ever hoped for?” She sighs, shaking her head.

“No,” she reveals, “somehow it’s even better. For the first time since I left home, it feels _right_. It feels like it was fate.” Landis snorts at that absurd idea.

“Yeah, but more than likely it was the Force,” he points out. She rolls her eyes, waving him off.

“Same difference,” she dismisses. She turns back toward the ocean, and for a moment she swears she hears her father’s voice from her vision, but she chalks it up to her own wishful thinking. She releases all the tension in her body, closing her eyes and soaking it all in. When Cora opens her eyes, she starts her search.


	11. C O R A

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cora finds remnants of the past on Ahch-To, and the island begins to call to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me: yer a virus, corona  
> cora: i'm a what  
> this was a bad joke i'm sorry
> 
> hi yes i know it's been a month i hate myself too. i just had no desire to write?? like i know the direction of the rest of the story but i've stared at my word doc and written almost nothing for the last month. but i really wanna finish this!! the goal is to make sure i get my work done in an orderly fashion so that i can power through this :)
> 
> once again the playlist no one asked for:  
> beautiful ghosts - taylor swift  
> no one is alone - anna kendrick, james cordon, lilla crawford, daniel huttlestone  
> with you by my side - mandy moore, zachary levi, eden espinosa

Cora breathes in the salty air of Ahch-To, staring at the ocean as the wind whips her hair this way and that. In the day since they’ve landed, Cora has seen so many things she’s only ever imagined when she read her mother’s books. The temple she hadn’t been daring enough to enter yesterday, she stands in front of now, a gloomy presence lurking inside. It’s a strange feeling, she thinks, for a group supposedly so dedicated to the Light Side of the Force.

Despite the perturbed feeling, Cora pushes forward, stepping through the stone doorway and into a place that reeks of ancient knowledge. The walls have no specific shaping, other than the natural erosion of the rock, but in the center of the floor lies a slightly raised pool, the light pouring in from outside shimmering off the symbol designed into the rock. Idly, Cora wonders how that dais has remained so untouched, as the rest of the temple appears to be fracturing in every direction she looks. Hesitantly, she steps toward the circle in the center of the room, the Force seeming to be a beacon there.

Curiously, Cora tilts her head at the image in the circle, frowning a bit when she realizes she has absolutely no idea what it means. The black and white face calls to her, asking her what the Force tells her. Still, Cora hasn’t a clue, and after a minute of contemplation, she moves on from the ancient mosaic.

The doorway that leads her back into the light does not take her very far. Cora reaches the edge all too quickly, and she’s starkly reminded how high up she is. She blinks, taking a step back. For some reason, she can’t tear her eyes away from the ocean, the angry waves crashing over the rocks almost issuing her a challenge of some sort. Cora generally doesn’t like admitting she’s intimidated, but sometimes the weight of the situation catches up to her, and she’s terrified that sooner or later a wave will crest over her and pull her under, that she doesn’t have what it takes, that she isn’t enough to save her father.

A hand to her shoulder jolts Cora back to reality. She whirls, arm poised to strike, but Landis grabs her wrist before she lands a hit, raising an eyebrow at her in amusement.

“Really, Corona, you’re about as threatening as a flower. What did you think you would accomplish here?” he teases. Cora rolls her eyes, wrenching her wrist from his grip, and stalks back inside the temple.

“I wasn’t going to hit you,” she says pointedly. “You just startled me.” She doesn’t bother to check if he’s following; she knows by now that he feels the need to have the last word, so he’d never let her walk away without chiming in about something or other.

“You could’ve fooled me,” he replies right on cue with Cora’s internal monologue. Her back is to him, so he doesn’t see the smirk on her face or hear the soft chuckle she shares with herself.

Exiting the temple, Cora throws over her shoulder, “Tragically, I don’t think anything I do could fool you.” His steps hasten behind her, and a moment later Landis is beside her, matching her pace. Her eyes flit to him before staring straight ahead again, smiling softly as she does so. “Good morning, by the way.” He pauses, turning to look right at her, snorting at the abrupt change of subject.

“Good morning to you, too,” he answers jovially. His steps pick up where he left off, once again slightly trailing Cora down the hill. They stop once they reach the line of huts, and as they turn to go their separate ways, a wave of sadness washes over Cora. She blinks, unsure where that came from, shaking her head to rid herself of the coldness of it. She pushes through the door to the hut she’s designated as hers for the time being, and she squints as her eyes adjust to the dim lighting. After closing the door, Cora slides down its surface, her face in her hands. A moment passes before she lifts her head, and when she does her eyes are assaulted with a gleam so bright she has to shield her eyes. Cora turns to glare at the open window, as if it could control the light streaming in. The fire flickering out of her, she averts her gaze to the rocky floor.

Rationally, Cora knows why her emotions are all over the place. She ran away from home by stealing her mother’s ship, tore through Chandrila without any idea of what she was looking for, and picked up two orphans before landing on this remote island in the Unknown Regions of the galaxy. She’s overwhelmed, and there’s no one to tell her what to do. _Stars_ , she wishes her mother was here to guide her down the right path. _But you made that impossible when you shut her out_ , a little voice nags in the back of her head. Cora shoves that voice down as far as it will go and pretends to be more interested in the light winking at her through a crevice in the rocks. Dragging herself to her knees, she crawls over to the wall opposite her where the light is coming from. She leans forward, her eyes centimeters from the wall, trying to figure what exactly is causing the shine. Her body moves before her brain even considers pulling the rock from its place in the wall. The rock slips from her fingers to the floor as she blinks in astonishment at the lightsaber that looks as though it has a spiral casing. Cora’s fingers brush the hilt against her better judgement, and suddenly she’s no longer in her hut on Ahch-To.

“Hello?” she calls out with no response. A lightsaber ignites behind her, and Cora whirls around, immediately on guard. She sees a man holding the lightsaber she just found, and with a start she realizes it’s the green one she’s always holding in her dreams. An expression of anger and fear fleets across his face before he flicks the switch back off, but the damage is already done. A young man whose face isn’t clear to her lashes out in fear after seeing his teacher standing over him with a lightsaber. The older man calls out a name - _“Ben, no!”_ \- and Cora whirls back to the younger man, now able to see the frightened eyes of her father as a student of a new Jedi Order. She wants to reach out, to help him, but she’s rooted to the spot, and as the structure explodes around her she’s pulled to a new scene. Now the older man is in her hut, and he’s pulling back the same rock she did, though he puts it back as soon as the lightsaber is safely secured inside. He leaves the hut after he finishes his task, and Cora, wanting to see more, follows him, but when she steps outside it seems as if time has passed, because the man’s beard is much more unruly and unkempt now. Still, she follows him into a tree that was not on the island when she landed. Inside the man stares at the figure of a woman whose back is to them.

“Who are you?” he asks, intrigued by the mysterious person. The woman doesn’t turn around, but she replies nevertheless.

“I know this place,” she breathes out, and Cora is jolted with the realization that she _knows_ that voice. Her suspicions are only confirmed when the woman turns around, and Cora is greeted with the sight of her mother, much younger and not quite as sad. She’s distracted by this new development in the story, and it takes her a moment to focus back on the conversation.

“Why are you here, Rey from nowhere?” the man queries, and Cora would like to know the answer to this, too, since she never knew her mother had been to this island. The Rey of years past draws in a breath, and her image is fading as she reveals what really brought her there.

_“Something inside me has always been there. Now it’s awake. And I’m afraid. I don’t know what it is . . . or what to do with it. And I need help.”_ Cora sucks in a breath, hands clutching the ground beneath her to stabilize herself, blinking to bring her surroundings back into focus. Now she wishes more than ever that her mother was here, if only to help her make sense of these fragments of time she continues to get sucked into. More than anything, she just wishes she didn’t feel so _alone_.

Her eyes fall back to the lightsaber, which must have rolled to the ground while Cora was lifetimes away. Less hesitant this time, she tests the weight in her hand. It feels _right_ , in a way the other sabers never have. When she ignites it, her own face is reflected back at her. For now, that’s enough.

-

She’s wandering the island again. She does it mostly to clear her head, somewhat to search for a way to find her father. Cora didn’t really want to talk to Landis or Narissa, so she set off in a direction of the island she hadn’t yet explored.

She clutches the new lightsaber in her hand, its weight a reassuring presence in her palm. The rational part of Cora knows that there’s no threat here on this island, but she can’t help but get a sense of foreboding, so there’s nothing wrong with being prepared.

A strong wind rushes by her, whispers slipping through the strands of her hair. Cora pulls her hair back from her face, not wanting any distractions. The wind whips again, and the whispers still persist. Cora looks around, thinking Landis or Narissa perhaps followed her, but she’s alone. She shivers, drawing her cloak closer to her, as she continues on her way.

_“I know what I have to do, but I don’t know if I have the strength to do it.”_ Cora freezes, sure she definitely heard something this time. She chases the direction she’s sure it’s coming from, and the closer she gets the colder she feels. She slows her pace, her eyes falling upon the black hole inlaid in the rock, spindly roots grappling the ground for support. She clips the lightsaber to her belt, the threat not as drastic as she anticipated. Cora approaches slowly, not wanting to get sucked in. She kneels a foot away from the hole, hesitantly peering over the edge. _“You’re not alone,”_ it calls.

“I’m not alone,” she repeats, transfixed. She reaches forward, unsure what she’s reaching toward, but she just knows she needs whatever it is. The wind picks up again, and Cora snaps out of her trance as she’s pushed forward. Instinctively, she screams, latching on to the black roots, not letting go for fear of what awaits her below.

“Landis! Narissa!” she wails helplessly, but she already knows they can’t hear her. Attempting to rein in her fears, she closes her eyes, reaching out to them in the Force. She hopes her panicked feeling is enough for them to realize something is wrong. Her arms begin to shake, not used to this much strain on them, and her eyes pop open, her fear once again very present. She’s going to fall, she’s going to drown, she’s going to _die_ -

“Corona!” Cora doesn’t think she’s ever been more relieved to hear Landis’s voice.

“Corey! Where are you?” Narissa calls out, and Cora could sob in relief. She does her best to calm the quiver in her voice when she answers.

“I’m over here! I’m in the dark!” she cries out, failing at keeping her tone even. She closes her eyes again, not wanting to think about what awaits her below. She hears the waves lapping at some shore, echoing in the cave at the bottom. She tries not to think about the fact that she can’t swim. Her grip on the roots loosens, and she yelps without meaning to. Her heart hammers against her chest, wishing and praying her friends find her soon.

Landis reaches her first, which makes sense, she muses, since he’s much taller than Narissa. His palms slam into the ground in haste to situate himself. Whether or not he’s in pain, he has no reaction, so even if he is he probably doesn’t even notice. He grabs both of Cora’s forearms before her fingers slip from the roots, and she would try to help him in pulling her up if she wasn’t shaking so much. For a moment, Landis’s eyes unfocus and his grip slackens, and Cora shrieks, eyes widening as she feels herself begin to fall, but she doesn’t fall further than a foot before a new pair of hands are gripping her wrists.

“What the hell, Landis?” Narissa snaps, glancing at him before going back to focusing on pulling Cora up. Landis snaps out of whatever came over him, and he reaches down again, this time actually succeeding in lifting her out of the pit.

Once again on solid ground, Cora slumps forward, dry heaving until she can draw in a proper breath. Even then, she’s crying too much to get her breathing under control. She sobs, “I can’t swim,” in a loop, hiccuping every few seconds, as Narissa pulls her into a fierce hug, providing Cora with comfort she hasn’t felt since she left home. Landis looks at her oddly, unsure whether he should join the hug or not, but Cora makes the decision for him as she yanks his body into their messy embrace.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he repeats, overcome with grief regarding what almost happened. When they all pull apart, Cora wipes her eyes, still sniffling, and attempts a weak smile.

“It’s okay,” she presses, and Landis’s lips draw together in a line as he nods, unsure how to respond. She looks back and forth between her friends. “I don’t know what I’d do without you two,” she says, grinning for real this time. Landis frowns, and Cora raises an eyebrow, encouraging him to say whatever is bothering him.

“You would have fallen if Riss didn’t get here when she did. When it mattered most, I let you down,” he emphasizes. Cora furrows her brows, confused.

“I was falling when you first grabbed me,” she reveals. “I would have fallen anyway if you weren’t there.” He runs a hand through his hair, frustrated.

“But I let you go!” he bursts out. He deflates a bit, unable to look at her. “You were in danger, and I let you go.” Cora twists her mouth, unsure what to say, as she grips his hand in reassurance.

“I needed both of you, and both of you saved me,” she finally responds. He rips his hand from hers, standing and storming off, angry at her, angry at himself.

“Hey,” Narissa says, drawing Cora’s attention to her. “He’s not mad at you. It’s just a problem he has with himself, abandonment issues or whatever.” She waves her hand, and Cora nods, though she still worries about him. Narissa smiles, trying to lighten the mood. “Let’s go see if any more of those birds have tried to impale themselves on one of your lightsabers.” Cora laughs, shaking her head. As she and Narissa travel back up the mountain, Cora turns around to face the horizon, biting her lip in concern that Landis is about to do something incredibly stupid. Then she shrugs, remembering that most of what he does is stupid, and the matter is dropped.


	12. R E Y

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey is restless on Chandrila until she receives a mysterious transmission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i gotta be honest, idk what took so long with this one. i've known exactly how this chapter would play out for the last month, but i just never sat down to really write until a few days ago?? so again i'm sorry for the wait, but kudos to you if you're still with me!! i promise the wait is almost over!! (like, a chapter or two from being over. then i can finally get to the fluff that i've wanted to write since the beginning lmao.)
> 
> this has been my favorite rey chapter to write so far, so i hope you enjoy it as much as i do!!
> 
> and of course, my chapter playlist that no one asks for:  
> heart of stone - natalie paris  
> i'd give anything - mandy moore  
> someday - ciara renee and andrew samonsky

All things considered, Rey’s been in a pretty good mood for the past few days. Sure, she’s been restlessly pacing Leia’s apartment because they _still_ haven’t left Chandrila, but Rey didn’t want to go anywhere until she knew where Cora was.

She didn’t tell Finn she had talked to Ben, because she didn’t want him to think she was crazy on top of everything else, but that’s really her own business, anyway. She has hope again, and for the time being that’s enough.

Focusing on her reflection in the mirror, Rey carefully measures her hair with her fingers as she takes the scissors to them. She supposed with all this waiting she might as well get some things done, and a haircut was long overdue. The hair falls to the floor unceremoniously, and the first section of her hair now only reaches to her chest. She grins as the weight on her head begins to lessen. It was always more practical for her to keep her hair shorter on Jakku, but Rey would be lying if she said she didn’t appreciate the ethereal look her longer hair gave her. Still, it was nearly to her waist before she started cutting it, and it had been getting a bit hard to manage. She’s just touching up the ends as Artoo barrels into the fresher, whirring and beeping at her with such enthusiasm that Rey almost drops the scissors.

“What?” she blurts, startled. “What is it, Artoo?” The astromech droid pauses before informing her she has an incoming transmission from BB-8. “What? Are you certain?” she presses, and Artoo plays the frequency it’s coming in on. Rey leads him out into the sitting room so that whoever is on the other side of that call does not see her standing in a pile of hair. The holo connects as she sits down on the wine colored sofa, and she blinks in surprise at the blue image.

“Is it working, BB-8? Can she see me?” a young boy nervously asks the orange and white droid. Rey squints, unsure that she’s seeing correctly. This must be the boy that was on the security footage with Cora, but Rey doesn’t understand why he would be contacting her. He doesn’t even know her. Suddenly he looks up, and Rey sits up straighter. “Apologies, Master Jedi, ma’am, I don’t mean to disturb you,” he stammers, and Rey’s face softens at the boyish innocence.

“None of that, please,” she dismisses, smiling a bit. Her eyebrows furrow as she asks, “How do you know who I am? And where is my daughter?” The boy looks as though he blanches despite the blue flickering light revealing nothing.

“I, uh, kind of goaded Corona into telling me you’re her mother,” he says, sounding a bit embarrassed, rubbing the back of his neck as he speaks. “And, um, she’s fine, I think, but I actually commed you in the hope that you’d please come help. Something happened, and it made me realize that we’re in over our heads, and . . . and we could really use your guidance.” His eyes are fearful and pleading, and Rey leans forward in alarm.

“What’s happened? Are you in any danger?” she worries, her voice taking on an unsteady quality. Her fingers curl into the couch cushions, her fear reaching up to choke her.

“No, no!” he quickly amends, waving his hands in reassurance. “Well, not anymore, at least,” he says, lowering his hands back to his side, eyes downcast. He takes a deep breath before meeting her unflinching gaze. “Not even an hour ago, Corona almost fell into this weird pit thing, and I . . . I let her go. I didn’t mean to, but when I grabbed her, I saw something else. It was her, but it also wasn’t, like . . . like she was older or something.” His hands wring together unconsciously. “If I can’t control whatever that was, then who’s to say next time she doesn’t fall?” Rey purses her lips, willing herself not to get mad at this boy she doesn’t even know, and as everything he said washes over her she realizes that he’s Force-sensitive. She won’t interrogate him now, but she makes a mental note to see how much he knows at a later time.

“Okay, it’s okay,” she soothes in her best motherly tone. Rey thinks at the very least she’s mastered that in raising her own daughter. “Where are you?” she asks gently. The boy stops fidgeting to breathe, and his eyes dart down to what she assumes is BB-8.

“BB-8 can send our coordinates to you, right? That’s how you found us on Chandrila before, at least that’s what Narissa says Corona told her,” he stammers, and when she nods he continues. “Well, I don’t actually know where we are. The Force brought us here - well, Corona used the Force to find this place, and _then_ the Force guided us to whatever island we’re on now.” Rey’s fingers tighten their hold on the sofa, and flashes of her time on Ahch-To play in her head.

“Can you describe this island to me?” she probes calmly, trying not to alarm the poor boy. Rey knows she can appear a bit intimidating, especially to people who see her as the last Jedi, and the last thing she wants is to frighten this boy into ending their transmission before confirming where her daughter is.

The boy’s eyes flicker about, perhaps trying to get a good look of his surroundings, though Rey previously assumed he was in the _Falcon_ , since there’s no way Cora would power on the round droid currently making communication with her, instead leaving him inside the idle ship. “Um, well, the water’s really rough, and honestly keeps me from getting much sleep, but I just explore the island if I get too restless. There’s thousands of stairs leading up the mountain, and the stairs stop once you get to a circle of huts. A little further up the hill is a Jedi temple, which is a bit eerie, if you ask me. Then today we came across the black pit, with roots that cling to the rock of the island. I don’t know what’s down there, and frankly I don’t want to find out, but your daughter almost did, and I don’t want what happened today to happen again, so I’m hoping you get here as soon as possible.” He looks scared, and the parent in Rey makes her want to embrace him and reassure him that everything will be okay. Then he sighs, and he gets a twinkle in his eyes that Rey can see even through the flickering transmission. “That Corona of yours, she’s something else. I pity the fool that falls in love with her someday.” Rey narrows her eyes, a knowing look spreading over her face.

“Well, she’s only thirteen, so I’m not all that concerned with that at the moment,” she replies, and the boy shakes his head bashfully.

“Right, um, yes, of course,” he flounders, and Rey grins at his discomfort. “I just meant that she’s very strong willed.” Rey laughs, nodding in acknowledgement.

“I should hope so,” she comments. “She is my daughter, and if I’ve taught her anything it’s how to handle herself.” Cora appears in her mind’s eye, a memory only a few weeks old, the two of them covered in grease after a situation with the power converters gone wrong. They’re laughing at the absurdity of it all, the fact that anything malfunctioned on the moisture farm that Rey has painstakingly tended for the past fourteen years. The pair of them are a sight, hair frizzy and sweat mixing with the grease stains on their clothes, but Cora doesn’t make a fuss about it like she normally would. Instead she gathers her mother in a hug, definitely making a bigger mess of both of them. Rey brushes her daughter’s hair back, asking her how she’s so happy right now, and Cora shrugs, replying that she spent the day with her mum, and that’s better than all the showers in the galaxy.

Rey pulls herself out of her head, focusing back on the boy in the transmission. She leans forward, resting her elbows on her knees and dropping her head into her folded hands. “You know, I don’t believe I ever got your name,” she prompts, raising an eyebrow. The boy nervously runs his hand through his hair, not meeting her gaze.

“Ah, well, to be fair I never got yours either,” he counters. After a moment, he sputters, “Of course, I already know your name - well, I know part of it, anyway.” Rey looks at him curiously, and he continues some more. “What I mean to say is that my name’s Landis,” he finally finishes, and Rey smiles at his boyish awkwardness, leaning back into the sofa to get more comfortable.

“It’s nice to meet you, Landis,” she offers, and he gives her a crooked grin. “No family name?” His face drops, and Rey’s mood sours once she realizes what she’s done.

“No offense, Master Jedi, but would I have run away with your daughter and my best friend if I had any family?” He says it so sadly, and Rey wants nothing more than to give this boy a home.

“I don’t know.” She shrugs, trying to lighten the mood. “Cora can be pretty persuasive when she wants to be.” Landis’s brows furrow in confusion.

“Cora? I thought her name was Corona,” he says, shaking his head, and Rey laughs at his internal dilemma.

“Well, yes, her name is Corona, but all of our friends and family call her Cora. Come to think of it, I really don’t know the last time anyone has addressed her as Corona. I’m surprised she even still answers to it,” she chuckles, but Landis’s expression doesn’t change.

“But . . . but she never corrected me,” he sputters. “I’ve been calling her Corona for all the time I’ve known her, which granted has only been about a week, but she didn’t care to tell me that she goes by Cora.” Rey pities the boy for not seeing it, but she’s not going to push something that’s not even there yet. Instead, she gives him a logical response to appease the gears turning in his brain.

“I’m sure she’s just too polite to tell you otherwise. She just wants the company of friends, and I think she’d be happy with whatever you called her.” Rey pierces a stare through him, imploring, “And that’s what I need you to be for her right now: a friend. I need to know my daughter has someone to lean on until I get there.” Her eyes soften as she regards him. “I like you, Landis, and I’m trusting you to keep my daughter safe until we’re together again. Can you do that?” His face becomes serious, nodding in earnest.

“You can count on me,” he assures. Rey finds a small comfort in this, despite not knowing the boy that well. Perhaps that she sees a bit of herself in him, but it’s more than that. She just _knows_ that he has a kind heart, and she really doesn’t know if it’s the Force or motherly instinct or something else, but she doesn’t much care so long as he looks out for Cora.

“All right,” she sighs, “I’ll let you go now, but I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Landis furrows his eyebrows.

“But I didn’t tell you - ” he sputters.

“Don’t worry,” she dismisses. “I know exactly where you are.” His eyes widen, a bit taken aback.

“Whoa, that’s some pretty advanced use of the Force,” he says in awe, but Rey only shakes her head, laughing at his misplaced wonder.

“I didn’t use the Force,” she chuckles. “I’ve been to the island you’re on.” Landis snorts, almost looking like he doesn’t believe her.

“This place is so far into the Unknown Regions that it didn’t even have a name on the star map. No offense, but it doesn’t look like _anyone’s_ been here in a long time,” he tells her. She raises an eyebrow.

“So you mean to tell me that there isn’t a wrecked TIE Whisper in the middle of that island?” she challenges. He looks at her suspiciously, hesitating before answering.

“Truth be told, I never got close enough to see what it was, but I suppose it could be a TIE Whisper. I’d just assumed it was a tree,” he answers, shrugging. “But the fact that you know that doesn’t prove anything.” Rey rolls her eyes.

“Who do you think crashed it, genius?” she snipes.

“Probably some piss poor pilot who got lost and died alone on this island,” he replies, and Rey lets out a humorless laugh.

“You’re looking at the piss poor pilot who I can confirm is not dead,” she shoots back at him. Finally he looks at her like what she’s saying has some merit, and she’s both relieved and insulted. Under normal circumstances, she’s an excellent pilot if she does say so herself. So she had a lapse in judgment! She was twenty years old at the time for kriff’s sake! She doubts this boy would have responded any better to the situation. Instead of dwelling too much on past mistakes, she tells him, “Ask Cora what she knows about the island. I know you’re charmed by her, but she knows more than whatever she’s told you.” She’s about to end the transmission when she adds, “Oh, Landis, do try to keep her out of trouble. She has a knack for interfering where she shouldn’t.”

The transmission flickers out, and Rey is once again alone with R2-D2. Immediately she’s on her feet, scouring the apartment for Finn, finding him in the master bedroom. He had offered it to her upon arriving, but Rey had politely declined, curling up in the childhood bed of her not-quite-dead love. It made her feel close to him, but now it feels like the life of some other boy, and she’s intruding on it. Blessedly, she doesn’t have to stay a moment longer, and this is what she goes to tell Finn. He sits up upon her barging into the room, startled to attention. He never gets the chance to ask her what’s come up as she beats him to it.

“We have a location,” she announces gleefully, and Finn shares in the merriment as his lips quickly stretch into a grin.

“We have a location?” he asks, almost in disbelief, definitely needing to confirm.

“We have a location,” she repeats, nodding, and Finn claps his hands, an excited chuckle bubbling out of him.

“Well, let’s go get your girl!” he declares.

-

Rey discovers that going to get her girl is easier said than done. As she squints at the modified hyperdrive she’s been working on for the past hour, she curses herself for not thinking to do this sooner. Of course, she couldn’t have known she’d be contacted by a frightened boy begging her for help when she woke up this morning, and once this whole ordeal was over with Rey would never use this ship again, but modifying the hyperdrive for the sake of rescuing her daughter outweighed her reasons for not doing it.

“Sithspit,” she curses as her finger catches on a sharp bit of metal. She pulls her hand back, inspecting the cut. Rey pushes herself to stand, and she walks down the ramp back to the apartment where she goes to clean the cut and put a bacta patch over it. No sense in her not being in perfect health when she doesn’t know what she’ll be getting into once she gets to Ahch-To.

Once she’s back on the ship, Rey finishes up the modifications she was working on, and she closes the panel that houses the hyperdrive. Walking to the cockpit, she finds Finn already there, and she sighs in exhaustion as she drops herself into the pilot’s chair.

“We should make it to Ahch-To in a day and a half with the changes I’ve made to the hyperdrive,” she informs him, and he nods, almost absentmindedly. Rey notices and sits up straight to question her friend. “Finn? What is it?” she probes. He shakes his head before answering.

“It’s nothing,” he denies, but Rey’s raised eyebrow prompts him to continue. “I just . . . I can’t wait for this to be over so that I can be with my family again.” Rey frowns, nodding at his words.

“I know what you mean,” she says solemnly. “And in case I haven’t said it, I really am grateful that you came when I needed you. I couldn’t have done this alone, and you’ve been a wonderful support when I’ve needed you to be, so thank you. You’re my best friend, Finn, and you’ve helped me so much over the years. I want you to know that I’ll be there for you, too. I know I haven’t been the greatest friend lately, but I’m going to change that. You and I both deserve it.” She finishes her little speech by grasping his hand, squeezing it in reassurance. Finn smiles at her, a tired smile of a man who won’t let himself fully rest until he’s with his family again. Rey thinks she’s probably looked the same over the past week, and she’s hoping that this trip to Ahch-To is the last leg of their journey so that they both can find some peace.

“Hey, you’re a great friend and an even better mother, and you don’t have anything to prove to me or Cora. Our love isn’t conditional,” he implores, and Rey’s eyes become glassy with unshed tears she refuses to let fall. Sniffling, she wipes the wetness away before she nods, pulling herself together.

“I know,” she assures, offering a small smile. “It’s still nice to hear, though.” She begins flipping switches and pressing buttons, the ship coming to life around her. She feels it, then: the promise of holding her daughter again. Rey doesn’t think she’ll ever let her go once she has her in her arms. She hopes Cora won’t let her go, either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> landis is a snitch ;) but he baby so we forgive him <3


	13. C O R A

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cora makes an impulsive decision, and it ends up working in her favor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you're surprised by this update, believe me, i am too. i wrote the entirety of this today, so this has been like .1% proofread. i apologize for any mistakes in advance lmao. however, this is the chapter you've all probably been waiting for since the beginning, and i'm relieved that it's finally here. i've been dreaming of writing this chapter since i started writing this story back in december. (it's a little bittersweet, ngl.) without further ado, i hope you enjoy!! :)
> 
> a pretty bomb ass selection of songs for a bomb ass chapter:  
> how far i'll go - reprise - auli'i cravalho  
> home - sophia anne caruso  
> show yourself - idina menzel, evan rachel wood

When Cora thinks about what happened the day before, she mostly remembers her terror at almost falling into that unknown abyss, but she also recalls the pull she felt to what was down there. Staring at the ceiling of her hut, Cora contemplates what would happen if she _did_ go down there. Would Landis and Narissa be able to rescue her a second time if she needed it? Or is it possible that the danger she felt surrounding the pit was all in her head? Is it even _worth it_ to test that theory?

Sighing, Cora rolls over onto her side, staring out the small square window, where the day’s just beginning. Lying here won’t do anything to help with the possible scenarios playing out in her head. Already deciding to go get a second opinion, Cora pushes herself into a sitting position, reaching for her belt on the floor. Clipping it on, and making sure the mysterious lightsaber is still secured to it, she opens the door that exposes her to the early morning light. For once, the island doesn’t look so gray, the rare appearance of sunlight giving it a more welcoming feeling. Cora wonders if this is what the ancient Jedi saw when they first arrived on this island. A feeling like this could convince even _her_ to stay at this place.

The moment she knocks on Landis’s door, she begins to regret the decision. Perhaps it would be better if she just trusted her gut, but she doesn’t have the chance to reflect on this as Landis is already opening the door, squinting at her as the sunlight assaults his eyes.

“Corona?” he asks, almost in disbelief. She smiles sheepishly at him, feeling a little guilty for waking him up.

“Sorry to wake you,” she starts. “I was hoping to get some advice.” He frowns at her, but he doesn’t immediately turn her away, so she holds out hope that he’s open to a discussion.

“I can’t guarantee I’ll be much help, but if you insist,” he finally answers, and Cora beams at him in gratitude.

“Great!” she chirps. “I’m going to go get Narissa.” She spins around before he can get another word in, bounding off in the direction of her other friend’s hut. Cora doesn’t really know why the three of them chose sleeping arrangements so far apart, maybe to have time to themselves after being so cooped up in the _Millenium Falcon_ for days, but whatever the reason has her ending up on the opposite end of the circle of huts.

When she knocks on Narissa’s door, the girl answers almost immediately, looking both rested and like she’s been up for some time now. Cora tries not to think about what could possibly cause her friend to wake up so early, and instead she focuses on the reason she came over.

“Good morning, Riss,” she greets, and her blonde counterpart relents a small smile at that, nodding in acknowledgement. “I’m kind of having an internal dilemma, so I was hoping you and Landis could help me,” she explains. Narissa’s expression shifts to one of concern before she’s grabbing her cloak and shutting the door behind her.

“Whatever you need, Corey,” she swears. Cora nods a bit in relief and walks with Narissa back to Landis’s hut. Narissa, unlike Cora, doesn’t knock on Landis’s door and instead pushes right through, revealing a half dressed Landis, Cora and Landis wide eyed, Narissa simply looking bored.

“Come on, pretty boy,” she drawls, “we haven’t got all day.” They do, in fact, have the whole day, but Cora figures that’s beside the point. She’s more focused on looking anywhere but at Landis as he hastily grabs his tunic and cloak and throws them over his head. The three of them head back outside, where the wind is unfortunately picking up despite the sunny day. Cora draws her cloak closer to herself, trying to preserve any body heat. Landis notices this, raising an eyebrow and snorting at her movements.

“A little cold, sand rat?” he teases, but Cora narrows her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest in defiance and also in an attempt to warm herself.

“Oh, you’re one to talk!” she snaps right back. He shrugs, not denying it, and internally Cora is fuming that the chill isn’t affecting him as much as it is her.

Narissa looks between the two of them, not sure whether or not she should be amused, deciding to break the tension. “Right,” she starts awkwardly. “So Corey here needs some divine wisdom?” Cora looks back at her friend, grateful that she got the discussion back on track. She rolls her eyes at Narissa’s choice of words, but she’s otherwise pleased that one of her friends is taking this seriously.

“Well, yes, in a way, I suppose,” she admits, plopping down onto the grass. Landis and Narissa follow suit, sitting on either side of her. Cora stares out at the endless ocean instead of looking at her two friends, and she hugs her knees to her chest as she confesses, “I’ve been thinking about going back - to the pit, that is.” Landis and Narissa are both quick to voice their disapproval.

“Corona, that’s madness!”

“Don’t you remember what happened last time?”

They both assault her with their heated words, but Cora tries not to pay them any mind before she finishes what she planned on saying. “There’s something down there, and it’s the only place on the island I haven’t been. The Force brought me here, and I have to believe that it’s trying to lead me to my father. I don’t know much, or really anything, about how to reach him, and I’ll do whatever it takes at this point. If I have to go into shadowy unknown depths, so be it.” She shrugs, realizing then that she truly means it. Nothing Landis or Narissa say at this point will change her mind.

“Corona, would you just listen to yourself?” Landis asks her. “You said it yourself: you _don’t_ know what you’re doing. Why don’t you accept that you can’t do this alone?” Cora whips her head in his direction, suddenly defensive.

“And _what_?” she snaps. “Wait for my mother to come save the day?”

“Honestly, it’s not the worst idea,” he says a bit snidely. She glares at him, daring him to push her further.

“Look, I don’t know if this is because you think you’ll be meeting some mythical Jedi Master, or you think forcing me and my mother together is a good idea just because your parents are dead, but I don’t care. You don’t know me _or_ my mother, so drop it,” she fires at him. Now it’s his turn to glare, and Cora does feel a sliver of regret for the jibe about his parents, but he’s inserting his opinion in things that aren’t any of his business.

“ _First of all_ ,” he says icily, “you _asked_ for my input, so don’t go attacking me for being honest. Secondly, I don’t give a womp rat’s ass about your mommy issues. I commed her yesterday because you could have _died_ , and no offense, but I don’t really want that on my conscience.” All Cora hears is white noise. The words register, of course, which is what causes her face to adopt a blank expression, because all she can hear is that _he commed her mum_.

“What,” she states more than asks. _Betrayal_ comes to mind, and then with a startling realization Cora understands that this means that she _trusted_ him. All those times he said to trust him, Cora believed she was just humoring him, but somewhere along the line that developed into genuine trust. And he broke that fragile trust, for what it was worth.

“You commed my mum?” she demands in utter disbelief. The worst part to her is that he doesn’t even look _guilty_ about it! Cora blinks back tears she didn’t know were there, forcing herself to stand. She turns to face both Landis and Narissa, and then she directs her attention to the latter. “Did you know about this?” Her tone is angry, if a bit forceful, but Cora doesn’t think she’s being all that irrational.

Narissa vigorously shakes her head. “Corey, I have never gone behind your back. I _believe_ in you, that’s why I’m here,” she swears. Cora narrows her eyes in suspicion, but she reasons that Narissa is telling the truth. The two of them spent the rest of the day together after Cora almost fell in the pit, and neither of them saw Landis again before this morning, at least as far as she knows. While she could question Narissa further, Cora sees no point, because she’s always had a feeling about Narissa, and whether that was the Force or something else, Cora knows that her friend would never deceive her. Appeased to an extent, she turns her scrutiny back to Landis.

“Talk,” she bites out. Landis meets her stare, unwavering, as he decides whether or not to answer her. In the end, he gives in.

“I commed your mother because I’m the only one willing to admit that we are way in over our heads. We’re _kids_ , Corona! Spin it any way you like, but we are severely ill prepared for whatever it is you have to do. Stealing a ship? Breaking and entering? Fine, it’s what Riss and I do, we’re thieves. But bringing someone back from the dead? Sorry, but I just felt like your mom might know more about that than any of us,” he spits at her. Cora is fuming, her cheeks heated, eyes staring daggers at the boy who she once thought was so carefree. Clearly, she’d been sorely mistaken about him. He doesn’t think she can do it? Fine, she’ll prove him wrong.

“I’m going back, and there’s nothing you can do to change my mind,” she informs him in an acidic tone. “You want to sit here and wait for my mum to come rescue us? Fine, you can let her know just where I am when she gets here.” She pivots sharply on her heel, hair fanning behind her as she begins to stalk off in the direction of the pit.

“Corona!” Landis yells, running to catch up with her. His hand grasps her shoulder, and she _whirls_ on him.

“ _No_!” she shrieks, unintentionally pushing out with the Force, and Landis is sent hurdling backward as Cora runs away in fear that he may try to stop her again. Her mind barely processes what she’s just done, instead choosing to focus on what’s ahead.

As she nears the spindly roots of the pit, Cora slows down, her rush of adrenaline dissipating. Hands pressed to her knees as she hunches over catching her breath, Cora stares into the depths below her and wills herself not to be afraid. _You’re not alone, you’re not alone, you’re not alone_ , she chants to herself. Before she gives herself more time to think about it, she jumps.

-

The first thing Cora registers is how the cold water cuts at her skin, and she struggles to resurface, gasping as she flails around, eventually finding some purchase on the rock and heaving herself up. Her teeth are chattering as she rises to her feet, dripping wet from head to toe as she spins around to take in her surroundings. The pit isn’t as terrible as she imagined, the cave she’s standing in not looking all that threatening. She hears a ringing, and she whips her head around to try to locate the noise. It happens again, and Cora squints as a creature that glows blue flaps into her eyesight. She blinks, and suddenly the ringing is like a million tinkling bells, dozens of glowing blue creatures appearing and circling her. Cora is in too much awe to be afraid, the creatures innocently guiding her toward a wall that Cora realizes is actually a mirror.

The blue creatures fan out, and Cora sees an inscription in the rock above the mirror, and she strains her neck to try to make it out.

“ _First comes the day, then comes the night_ ,” she reads. The light dims, and Cora looks to her new blue friends for help. “Please,” she begs. “I need this.” The glowing creatures light up the inscription, and now the whole thing is clear. Cora breathes out, starting over. “ _First comes the day, then comes the night. After the darkness shines through the light. The difference, they say, is only made right by the resolving of gray through refined Jedi sight._ ” The creatures scatter, and Cora is once again left in a dim glow. She paces in front of the mirror, her reflection seeming to mock her. She looks away, unwilling to be distracted.

“ _First comes the day, then comes the night_ ,” she murmurs to herself. Well, Cora reasons, it was day before she came down here, and it sure looks like night in this cave. _After the darkness shines through the light_ . Cora takes in her surroundings again, unable to see much in the darkness the cave offers. She blinks. _Darkness_ . _Then where’s the light?_ she wonders. As if on cue, the tinkling sound of the glowing blue creatures hits her ears, and Cora looks up at the reminder that she’s not alone.

Then there’s the last line of the inscription: _The difference, they say, is only made right by the resolving of gray through refined Jedi sight_ . Cora doesn’t quite believe that the inscription is insinuating that _she_ is the Jedi here. Begrudgingly, she admits that now would be a good time to have her mum with her, who is _actually_ a Jedi.

“ _By the resolving of gray though refined Jedi sight_ ,” she recites to herself. “ _Resolving of gray_ . . .” she muses, scanning the area around her. With a jolt, she stares at the mirror, walking toward it. “ _By the resolving of gray_ ,” she says with surety, reaching out to touch it. The mirror pulses under her touch, and Cora recoils in surprise. The ringing bells remind her to look up, and there are those glowing blue creatures, flapping their wings and existing in their otherworldly way. Cora blinks up at them, wondering if they know that she’s figured out what has to happen. She reaches out to them in the Force, encouraging them, _You know what you have to do_. They don’t move for a minute, and Cora’s worried that she got it wrong, but then they’re barreling forward, all of them crashing into the mirror and disappearing.

The mirror comes to life, glowing with the light of the blue creatures, shimmering before revealing something on the other side, opening into a doorway, and Cora doesn’t think twice before rushing through it. She isn’t prepared for the _pop_ of her ears, and she stumbles as she tries to gain some sure footing. When she looks up, Cora sees that she’s in a void that leads in every which way, and she doesn’t even know where to _begin_ looking for her father. She’s still reeling from the fact that she’s even _here_ , that she made it on her own, that she didn’t, in fact, need her mother. Cora feels a stab of regret at that last thought. It’s not that she _doesn’t_ want her mother here. Cora would love it if her mum was standing beside her in this moment. But Rey made her stance on this particular subject quite clear, so Cora will brave this one alone.

It takes a few minutes for Cora to realize she’s not breathing - rather, wherever she is doesn’t require her to breathe. Dazedly, she wonders how her father had felt so alive in her vision. Instead of dwelling too much on the impossibility of all this, Cora begins walking down the path in front of her, choosing to follow her instinct and hoping it leads to her father.

This proves to be quite difficult, as she’s aimlessly wandering along this road to nowhere, and when she looks back she can’t even see the door she came through. There’s portals all along the path, but none of them reveal anything, and Cora isn’t certain she’d find her father in one of them, anyway. Her steps faltering, Cora looks around helplessly.

“Dad?” she calls hesitantly, the sound echoing in this endless abyss. Her hand reaches for the lightsaber on her belt, checking to make sure it’s still there in case she encounters something unfavorable. Sighing a bit in defeat, Cora trudges forward, her feet dragging with each step.

“ _You’re a monster!_ ” a voice yells, and Cora belatedly realizes that the voice belongs to her mother, but every way she turns she’s still alone.

“Mum!” she calls desperately. For the first time since she took a leap of faith into the water, Cora feels uncertain about her mission. She wishes she wasn’t so stubborn and for once would’ve listened when someone was trying to help her. Her heart hurts when she thinks of the way she lashed out at Landis. _He probably hates me now_ , she thinks sullenly. Cora’s pulled from her thoughts by another voice.

“ _Obi-Wan . . . there . . . is good in him. I know there is . . . still . . ._ ”

Cora doesn’t recognize the voice, but the warmth that seeps from it has her chasing it further down the path. Another voice pulls her up short.

“ _As once I fell, so falls the last Skywalker!_ ”

Cora shivers at that voice, one that only promises endless pain, but she zones in on the mention of _Skywalker_. She knows her mother isn’t a Skywalker by blood and that Skywalker comes from her father’s family, even though his last name is Solo, and she wonders which of her family members was threatened with these words, because the only plausible use of them is in a threat. She supposes it must have been her father, since it wouldn’t make sense to be spoken to Luke Skywalker, as he had his twin sister, Leia Organa, Cora’s grandmother. Realizing that this must mean she’s getting closer to her father, she keeps going, though this time less enthusiastically after hearing the latest voice.

“Dad!” she yells again, this time cupping her hands around her mouth to amplify the sound. Still she receives no response. Cora blinks away imaginary tears, determined not to get carried away by her fluctuating emotions.

“ _No one’s ever really gone._ ”

This voice reminds her of her home on Tatooine, of longing and love and the promise that there’s redemption for everyone. Cora reaches for that voice, begging it to lead her to her father. _Please_ , she begs in her mind. _Send me a sign_.

“ _I wish you were here. I wish . . . I wish it still didn’t hurt this much._ ”

Now Cora doesn’t try to hold back the tears, because this is the voice of her _mum_ , the one she’s always known, the one who would do anything for her, the one she’d give anything to see right now.

“I miss you,” she sobs into the empty void. Then, a minute later, angrily screaming, “Doesn’t anyone hear me?” Cora sinks to her knees, too lost and upset and _tired_ , hugging herself tightly to ease the ache in her chest, but the tears keep coming.

“I hear you, sweetheart,” a voice murmurs, but Cora just dismisses it as another voice scattered in the abyss. It isn’t until she feels the distinct impression of a hand on her shoulder that she looks up, wiping blearily at her eyes. Then she’s blinking again, not believing what she’s seeing.

“Dad?” she croaks, guarded, not wanting to get her hopes up. Ben Solo looks at her with such a kind smile that Cora wants to disappear in it. As the idea that this is her _father_ registers, she clumsily throws her arms around him, crying harder than she was before. She cries for the years she and her mum had to live without him, but she also cries for the feeling of _rightness_ she gets when she’s in his arms. Cora probably cries until she’s out of tears, but she doesn’t notice because her chest is so light and heavy at the same time, and she unloads all her feelings on him. He keeps holding her, a steady beacon in the darkness around her.

_After the darkness shines through the light_. Cora chokes out a laugh at the thought, thinking she’s finally starting to understand. The girl made of starlight has found her sun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the glowing blue creatures are the blue butterflies that were recently featured in the star wars: roll out, but cora does not know what a butterfly is so i did my best to describe them lol. and in case you were wondering, yes, it does get fluffier from here ;)


	14. B E N

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben Solo is home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you know that scene at the end of tangled where rapunzel's parents pull her into a big hug and they sink to the ground? that's literally what this chapter is.
> 
> WARNING: inordinate amounts of fluff ahead. read at your own risk. seriously. there's just so much love.
> 
> some songs that helped me write this chapter:  
> a million dreams - ziv zaifman, hugh jackman, michelle williams  
> faithfully - lea michelle, cory monteith

Ben Solo cannot prepare himself for the outpouring of light from the girl with her arms wrapped around his neck. The girl, he continues to remind himself, is his daughter, who beyond all odds has found him. She clings to him, desperate for comfort, and he’s glad to give it to her. Each tear that tracks down her face breaks his heart, and Ben decides he doesn’t want her to cry ever again.

“I was so lonely!” she sobs, and Ben is stricken with the reminder of how similar she is to her mother. He’s determined to make sure she never feels alone, just as he once vowed to Rey all those years ago. His girls . . . they’d never know the pain of loss if he could help it.

Ben continues running his hand over her hair, willing to be her source of comfort as she lets out all her pain and sadness. Her light . . . it’s blinding, but in the best way possible. Even through all the tears, the Force around her hums in ecstasy, and Ben wonders if it’s rejoicing at the two of them together at last, the life force from him bound to her. Ben hasn’t felt _alive_ in so long, and Cora - _his daughter, stars above, she’s really his daughter_ \- radiates life and love and everything he’d thought had been lost to him.

“Everything’s going to be okay now,” he reassures her, and her arms tighten around him, unwilling to let go. “It’s okay, sweetheart, I’m right here.” His words are a gentle balm, meant to ease her worries, and she loosens her hold, stepping back from him. He notices that she really is quite tall, maybe even taller than Rey, and he finds it hard to believe she’s only thirteen, but then he focuses on her face, vibrant and soft, full of youth. Her brilliant blue eyes are so kind, and Ben realizes right then he would do anything to keep that light from dimming.

“I’m afraid I’ve made a terrible mistake,” she confesses, and Ben frowns at her in confusion. Mistake? What could she have possibly done that was so wrong? He looks her over once more, and there isn’t any indication she’s done something unforgivable, so he figures she must be exaggerating.

“A mistake, huh? Well, I wouldn’t know anything about that,” he teases, and her lips part into a lovely smile, her entire face brightening. Ben blinks, and he sees his mother, as she was with him before the voice in his head warped his perception of his parents. The memory is but a flash, and Cora is still grinning at him a moment later. Then her mouth tilts downward, remembering why she’s upset in the first place.

“I . . . I’m afraid I’ve pushed away the people closest to me, and I don’t know how to get back to them, or if they even want me,” she reveals, her voice tinged with regret. Her eyes narrow, the same fire Ben once saw in Rey’s eyes now in her own. “But I was just so _angry_ ! At Mum, at Landis, at everyone! They didn’t believe I could do this.” The fire fizzles out, and she looks so melancholy once more. “And they were right, I suppose.” She lets out a humorless chuckle. “I _still_ don’t know what I’m doing, but I was so determined to find you, and . . . and . . .” Cora’s voice dies on her lips. She looks up into his eyes, helpless and desperate for guidance. “I can’t do this alone anymore.” She shrugs, trying to hide her fear from him. Ben reaches forward, both his hands cupping her face.

“You are _not_ alone,” he promises her. Cora doesn’t look convinced, so Ben drops his hands, trying again. “You feel this?” he says, poking her chest for emphasis, though all that does is make her more confused. “That feeling you get when you’re around me, or your mom, or whoever this Landis fellow is, that doesn’t go away. There will be struggles and times when you think you can’t come back from it, but you _can_ . I did, and stars know my mistakes were much worse than yours will ever be. But I made it back. It took time, and, yes, a little guidance, but I’m better for it now.” He takes her hand, squeezing it to show that he isn’t going anywhere. “You know what helped? The people who loved me.” He smiles at Cora now, thinking the girl must be blind for not seeing it. “And I know there are people who love _you_ , so you’re not too late.” His daughter nods at his words, a bittersweet expression on her face.

“I know. It’s just . . . I didn’t mean to hurt Mum,” she despairs. Ben knows the feeling. He frowns, thinking of all the ways he’s hurt Rey. “But she’s just so _sad_ , and I don’t want her to be sad anymore.” Of course, she did it for Rey. His little light, a gift from the stars, the selfless girl standing before him. He understands why Rey named her for the sun, because she might as well be the bright center of his universe, and there’s no doubt that Rey feels the same.

Ben shakes his head, smiling in disbelief. “You’re a wonder, Corona Solo,” he tells her. She blinks at him, unsure she’s heard him correctly.

“No,” she denies vehemently, shaking her head. “What I did was selfish. Maybe not at first, but I’ve been shutting her out, even when I knew I needed her. I _do_ need her. I love her with my whole heart, and I’ve never needed her more than I ever have this past week.” Ben’s eyes soften as he regards her. He pulls her into another hug, hoping he’s doing this father thing right. He knows he’ll never be what Rey is for her, but he’ll be damned if he doesn’t protect his daughter from anything that could hurt her.

“Do you want to know a secret?” he asks her, and she nods into his chest, hugging him back. “I’ve pushed your mom out so many times, even when I wasn’t trying to, but every time I came back, she was willing to let me back in.” He shrugs, releasing Cora from his arms. “Of course, then I’d go and screw it up again, but I eventually got it right.” Cora laughs at that, wiping away unwilling tears.

“I miss her,” she says softly, and Ben looks at her sadly.

“Me, too.” He keeps looking down at Cora, but he stiffens at the tug he feels in his chest, the familiar sensation of his soul yearning to be united with a certain scavenger’s, to sigh at the harmony of being complete once more. Ben refuses to look around, to give his daughter false hope. He won’t do it, not to her, not even when he wants to believe it himself. It’s agony to not answer the call, following where it leads. He focuses on the part of himself standing right in front of him. For now his daughter deserves his undivided attention.

But it’s incredibly difficult to ignore, and his eyes shift in some unknown direction, and Cora follows his line of sight. She whips her head back, her eyebrows scrunching in confusion.

“What is it?” she asks uncertainly. He shakes his head, dismissing her worry.

“It’s nothing,” he reassures with a smile, but she frowns at his feeble attempt.

“Dad - ” she starts, but she’s cut off by the sound of her name being called.

“Cora!”

Ben knows just as well as her who the owner of that voice is, and they both turn to see Rey sprinting toward them. She crashes into Cora, arms encircling her in a fierce embrace as her entire body shakes. Ben doesn’t think he’s ever seen her this vulnerable, and he feels their shared soul cry out in relief that their daughter is all right.

“Oh, my darling,” Rey sighs, her voice breaking, eyes squeezed shut in fear that when she opens them her daughter won’t be in her arms. Her hands begin stroking Cora’s hair in a soothing manner, and Ben realizes he’s seeing Rey as a mother for the first time. “I was so worried about you. Promise you’ll never do that to me again. I can’t lose you, Starlight,” Rey tearfully rushes out.

“I know, I’m sorry, I promise,” Cora babbles through her own sobs, hugging her mother just as hard. “I missed you, Mum.” Her voice cracks, and Rey is once again running her hands over their daughter’s head, doing her best to comfort her.

“I missed you, too, baby,” she reassures. Cora sniffles, stepping away from their embrace to wipe her face.

“But I did tell you I’d find my dad,” she reminds her mother, laughing a bit at the absurdity of it all. Rey blinks, and she looks over Cora’s shoulder, like she’s suddenly seeing him for the first time. Her face breaks out into the most magnificent grin, and he can’t help smiling back.

“Ben,” she breathes, and the bond between them _sings_ at his name being spoken on her lips. Ben’s body is _thrumming_ in her presence, and he decides he definitely needs to be closer to her. Stepping forward, he gathers her in his arms, lifting her off her feet, spinning around in delight. Oh, how his father would _tease_ him for this, but he doesn’t care. All that matters is _her_ , Rey, his soulmate. She’s all that’s ever mattered, at least until the discovery of his daughter, and now he has two people to shower with affection. He can’t stop smiling, and Rey is _laughing_ , and _oh_ , he doesn’t think he’s ever been this happy.

He regretfully places her back down, now looking right into her lovely face. “Hi, Rey,” he finally greets her. Cora grins at them, content to see her family whole for the first time in her life. Ben thinks she may be a bit of a romantic, recognizing the look on her face as one he’d once given his parents when he was very young and things between them weren’t so messy. His eyes drift back to Rey, and her eyes shine when they meet his. He quirks an eyebrow as he really takes in her appearance. “You changed your hair,” he notes. She shrugs, tucking a few errant strands behind her ear.

“Same sweater,” she remarks, the hint on an amused smirk on her lips. He barks a laugh, looking at himself. In her defense, the sweater he wears is nearly identical to the one she’d last seen him in, but this one doesn’t have a gaping hole from where she stabbed him. He snorts, thinking about how absurd it is that he’s in love with the woman who slashed his face open and then ran him through with his own lightsaber.

“Different sweater,” he admits, and her eyes drift to where there was once a hole in his abdomen. She shakes her head, laughter bubbling out of her. Without warning, she surges forward, bringing their lips together in a long overdue kiss. Ben stumbles back, unprepared for the force of her, but he steadies himself, smiling against her lips.

“I love you, Ben Solo,” she whispers after breaking the kiss. He knows she’s already said it once, but the words still take his breath away. He wishes he could find the proper words to tell her just what she means to him, but he doesn’t want to make her wait that long for a response.

“I love you, too,” he replies, vowing to himself that someday he’ll sit down and string together the right words for her, and he delights in the fact that there will be a someday for them. She deserves so many somedays, and he’ll give them to her as long as she allows him.

Cora clears her throat, reminding the two lovers that their teenage daughter has been standing beside them as they got reacquainted. She gives an awkward tightlipped smile, and if Ben has any doubts left about her being his daughter, they vanish at that expression, because that’s definitely him right there.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m loving this whole having both my parents thing, but I really am not looking to be scarred for life,” she quips, rubbing the back of her neck as her cheeks heat. Ben looks at her, amused, as Rey detaches herself from him and pulls their daughter between them.

“You terribly brilliant girl,” Rey chides, wrapping an arm around Cora. “I’m still angry at you for running away, but I can’t even be that mad because you’ve done something wonderful.” Cora smiles softly, relieved that her mother’s love hasn’t wavered.

“I did it for you,” she offers gently, and at Rey’s disbelieving expression, she hastily adds, “Okay, it was partially for me, too.” Ben laughs at the exchange, embracing both of them tightly.

“My girls,” he murmurs affectionately, and the three of them sink to the floor of this dark plane they’re in. He thinks he imagines it, but he feels the Force tremble with joy at the three of them united at last. The bond with Rey is a livewire, positively radiating with electricity at the two of them so close together, and the life force of his daughter surrounds him, bringing him back to life. He chokes on the feeling, the sensation overwhelming. He’s startled that he can even _feel_ , and the cold he’s felt for so long washes away, replaced with _warmth_ and _light_ and _life_ . Ben is almost certain he’s dreaming, but Rey’s grip on his bicep keeps him tethered to reality, and Cora’s endless glow reassures him of the rightness of it all. He never knew why he hadn’t become one with the Force, but now he’s certain that it was for _this_ , for them, and Ben is sure he’ll never let them go.

They’ve been sitting there, wrapped up in each other, just taking in the feeling of being together, for some time now, and Ben knows they can’t stay there forever. He squeezes Rey’s shoulder, and somehow she knows what he’s thinking, pulling away from their embrace and rising to her feet. Her eyes are soft as she offers him her hand, and Ben gladly accepts it. All those times he’d offered her his hand, all those times she’d refused . . . and now she’s looking at him with a fondness he’s never seen before, and Ben will take her hand every time.

“Come on, Cora,” she gently probes her daughter. Cora looks up, almost like she didn’t realize the spell has been broken, that they have to get back to the real world. She stands, her eyes darting back and forth between her parents, and her face beams at them, indescribably happy. She grasps her father’s other hand, and Ben is sure he’s never been so loved, bound to the woman he loves and the daughter they share.

“Let’s go home,” Rey declares, and together they begin the journey back to the galaxy he’s been away from for so long. _Home_. It’s an odd notion, the idea that he has a home, because he’s been lost his entire life, but Ben is starting to see that he already is home, as long as he is surrounded by the two women who make his world turn, as long as he lets their light in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk why i'm suddenly writing so quickly again. maybe i just really missed ben solo. (i definitely missed ben solo.) thanks for not giving up on this story, i'm so happy to continue sharing it <3


	15. C O R A

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bridges are burned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i did not want to write this chapter and once you get to the end you'll see why :))))
> 
> i am currently immersed in finals, but i was struck by a bout of inspiration, so i managed to churn this out between them. this wasn't my favorite chapter to write (i was back and forth over a lot of things, and my writing process was all over the place) so i'm sorry if that reflects but i'm hoping it doesn't happen again.
> 
> a playlist of songs to reflect this wild chapter:  
> stronger than ever before - mandy moore, zachary levi, james monroe iglehart  
> all is found - evan rachel wood  
> defying gravity - annapantsu, sedgie

Stepping through the doorway back to the cave, Cora shivers as her body registers that it’s still wet and that the cave itself is quite cold. She had forgotten her clothes and hair were heavy with water before she’d stepped through the mirror. A glance at her mother shows that she isn’t faring much better. The two of them make quite the sight, but it’s nothing next to the feeling of her father’s hand in hers. Cora squeezes his hand to reassure herself that he’s really here, that this isn’t some trick of the Force, but - no, for once the Force has decided to grant her family this mercy.

“We have to close the portal,” she realizes out loud. Her parents look at her, confused for a moment, before looking at the mirror, seeing that it is, in fact, still glowing with that otherworldly quality.

“Well, how did you open it?” her mum asks, and Cora bites her lip. She’s not entirely sure that _she_ did anything, but she doesn’t know how to tell her mother that.

“It might sound a little crazy,” she confesses, and her parents share a look before her mother looks at her again.

“We’re pretty well versed in crazy, darling,” she says gently, and Cora isn’t sure why but that seems to comfort her. She releases the tension in her shoulders before turning to face the mirror herself.

“There were these . . . glowing blue creatures with wings, and the flapping sounded like bells, and there was an inscription high above the mirror, and the creatures flew into the mirror, and . . . I don’t know, it just appeared, and there weren’t exactly any instructions on how to make it go away.” Cora shrugs a bit helplessly. Her mother has a crease between her eyebrows, and Cora can see her mum trying to make connections. While her mother concentrates, her father lets go of both of their hands as he steps forward. He reaches out, and Cora waits with bated breath. His hand brushes the shimmery mirror, and then the light seems to be sucked out of it. Cora stares at him in wonder, as does her mother, but he only shrugs bashfully.

“You used the Light to open it. I used the Dark to close it,” he says simply. Her mother looks at her father meaningfully, and they stare at each for a minute before Cora realizes they’re communicating in their _heads_. Stars, this is too much for her to process. They must reach an agreement because a moment later they’re all holding hands again, the Force humming around them in bliss.

Her mother starts in an unknown direction, and Cora jolts as she’s tugged along. It seems as if her mother is just as inclined as she is not to let go of her father’s hand. Her father, for his part, takes it all in stride, happily following Rey through an archway with steps leading back up to the shore of the island. The pathway is a bit windy, and it would probably be easier to maneuver if they weren’t all holding hands, but a voice in her head that sounds strangely like her mother tells her that they’ll come out of the darkness together.

Light shines down on them from above, and a weight eases in Cora’s chest. It was one thing to exit the mirror, but it’s another to see her father in the light of day. This is when Cora realizes that she and Ben Solo look startlingly alike. Sure, he dwarfs her, but she thinks anyone would look small next to him. But like her, her father has a head full of messy dark curls, and they share a similar complexion. He notices her staring and smiles at her as a reminder that he’s not going anywhere, and Cora files that away as something else they share. She had always wondered why her mother’s eyes would grow misty when Cora smiled, and now she thinks she knows why. She wasn’t seeing Cora but someone else, someone thought to be lost to her forever. Against all odds, that someone walks in front of her, and Cora didn’t realize it was possible to feel this full of love. She can’t wait for the rest of her life if it’s anything like this.

“Cora!” The sound of her name pulls her back to the present, and she blinks, noticing that there’s once again grass beneath her feet, and Uncle Finn is calling her name. Her eyes water, and she didn’t think about how much she would miss her family when she ran off on this adventure. She releases her father’s hand, running to embrace her uncle.

“Uncle Finn!” she cries joyously. She steps back to meet his eyes, barraging him with questions. “How are Zellen and Kaye? It feels like it’s been forever since I’ve seen them. Oh, and what about Aunt Rose? Is she still working on that machine? I remember she said it would take a long time, but I haven’t been to Naboo in ages, and I wasn’t even sure what it was that she was building. Oh, oh! And Uncle Poe? Has he finally stayed in one place long enough to settle down? I know he thinks I’m much younger than I am and never seems to think I know all the adult things going on in your lives, but I really am much more perceptive than he’d have you believe.” Finn laughs at her rambling, shaking his head in amusement.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” he chuckles. “Slow down, kid. I’ve barely seen you thirty seconds and you’re already interrogating me?”

“Well, at least I know where she gets it from,” Cora hears her mum mutter, and her dad snorts in response. Cora turns to them, a brilliant smile overtaking her face as she reminds herself that they’re all _here_ , that they’re alive and well and happy, and _oh_ , it can’t get better than this.

Her uncle is blinking in astonishment at her parents, and Cora wonders why until she reminds herself that not many people liked her father all that much while he was alive. Given that Uncle Finn was once a Stormtrooper, she can understand why.

Her father, for his part, has the sense to look apologetic, his right hand rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “Look, uh, Finn, I know you probably hate me, and rightly so. I did kind of, um, run my lightsaber up your back. I’m not even going to ask you to like me, but I just wanted you to know that I am sorry for any pain I caused you in the past, and I want to thank you for checking up on Rey and my daughter all these years.” Cora isn’t sure how her uncle is going to react, but she’s surprised that he remains so polite.

“Well,” he starts, clearing his throat, “I’m not going to pretend that I’m okay with you being in the lives of people I care about, but I can see that Rey and Cora care deeply for you, if bringing you back from wherever the hell you were is any indication, and as a father myself, I would never try to keep parents apart from their children. I also can’t ignore the fact that you _did_ save Rey all those years ago on Exegol, and somehow you gave her Cora - which is still _beyond_ me, even after learning all I can about the Force - and they’re family to me, so I think I can learn to live with the fact that you’re also part of that family.” Cora’s mum smiles gratefully at her best friend.

“Thank you, Finn, for everything. You’ve been patient with me, and Force knows I didn’t deserve it.” Her uncle shrugs in response.

“You can mostly thank Rose for that. She’s the most patient person I know - brilliant, too, but her kindness is overwhelming. Maybe you’ll actually see that if you leave that awful sandpile of a planet you’ve been living on for fourteen years . . . ?” He trails off, and his hint is not so subtle. Rey rolls her eyes, but Ben only furrows his brow in confusion. He looks at her mother curiously.

“You mean you could’ve lived anywhere in the galaxy, and you _willingly_ chose to live on Tatooine? Rey, I love you, but . . . _Tatooine_?” Her father looks at Rey incredulously. Her mother frowns, pursing her lips, as she narrows her eyes at the brooding man beside her.

“Yes, I get it, I made poor life choices. Twenty-year-old Rey hadn’t exactly been in the best state of mind,” she defends, and Cora snorts at that. _Thirty-four-year-old Rey hasn’t made the best choices either_ , she thinks wryly. Still, her mother’s poor decisions did lead to this, so she supposes it isn’t all terrible. Rey narrows her eyes at her daughter now. “Oh, what, you want to mock my choices now, too? Considering all the emotional trauma, I’d say I’ve done well enough.” Cora’s eyes widen at her mother’s outburst, and she doesn’t know how to respond. Lucky for her, her father seems to know the right words to say, murmuring in her mother’s ear so that neither Cora nor Uncle Finn can hear him. It’s probably for the best, she reasons, since her mother’s eyes soften as she looks at her father like they’re the only two people in the galaxy. While Cora is grateful to see her mother happy, she hadn’t really considered the tradeoff - being so repulsed by the starry-eyed affectionate intimacy.

She clears her throat, drawing her parents’ attention to her. “Right, well, I’m going to go let Landis and Narissa know that I’m okay,” she says, awkwardly starting up the hill. Cora doesn’t bother to look at her parents’ faces; she knows they’re grinning in amusement at her. She just _knows_ her mother will tease her about this for days.

The circle of huts spans before her, and she sees Narissa staring blankly into a fire they must’ve built and Landis pacing in front of the hut she’d been sleeping in, her heart surging as she remembers the way she’d yelled at him before running off to a shadowy cave, probably scaring him half to death. Cora can’t bring herself to move from where she’s standing, unable to face the situation she left behind. It doesn’t seem to matter, though, because a moment later Landis looks up, as if her internal panicking alerted him. His lips part in surprise, and Cora wrings her hands together, unsure what he’s thinking. Then he’s running at her, his arms securing her to his chest, and she shivers at the contact. She keeps forgetting how wet she is, and Landis’s body heat is a stark reminder. He seems to notice, though, as he steps back, taking her in.

“Corona, you’re soaked,” he states, and Cora laughs at the idea that that is all he can think to say to her. He puts an arm around her, guiding her toward the fire that Narissa still stares into. She sits down, and Landis disappears into his hut for a moment before walking out with a blanket under his arm. He secures it around her, and Cora blinks back to life. Suddenly she’s shaking, but it’s not from the cold. Tears stream down her face, and Cora throws her arms around Landis, crying into his shoulder. For his part, he doesn’t react horribly to her breakdown, instead wrapping his right arm around her to get more comfortable, inadvertently pulling her closer. He doesn’t speak, just letting her get out what’s troubling her, and once she calms down, she sits back, forcing herself to meet his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” she croaks, a few more tears trickling out, and she hastily wipes them away. “I didn’t mean all those horrible things I said to you. I just . . . I felt betrayed, and I thought you didn’t believe in me, and . . . and I needed someone to believe in me.” She sniffles, turning her head to stare at the ground, her next words barely a whisper. “I needed someone to believe in me because I wasn’t even sure if I believed in myself.” Landis’s hand squeezes her knee, and Cora looks at him unsurely.

“I did - I _do_ believe in you, for the record,” he reassures, a lopsided smile on his face. “But I didn’t want you to have to do it alone, and I knew neither I nor Riss could’ve helped you. I may have reacted a bit impulsively, but I figured your mother was the best person to ask for help. I shouldn’t have kept that from you, though, and for that I’m sorry, too.” Cora’s eyes soften as she pulls him into another hug. Landis hugs her back for only a moment before he’s pushing her away. “Okay, I was trying to be comforting, but like I said before, you’re soaked, and now I’m freezing,” he tells her, chuckling. Cora joins in, catching the attention of Narissa, who hasn’t looked away from the fire until now. Her eyes look haunted as she stares at Cora, emotions suddenly catching up to her as she fiercely embraces the younger girl.

“ _Stars_ , Corey, I haven’t been able to breathe since you left,” she whispers in Cora’s ear. Cora startles, wondering if Narissa could feel when her body exited this plane to somewhere beyond. She isn’t sure how most aspects of the Force work, so she can’t be certain if Narissa is serious or if she’s just exaggerating, but she can’t ignore that she was immediately _drawn_ to Narissa. Although she feels like she knows more about Landis, Cora _trusts_ Narissa, she always has, even when BB-8 advised her not to. She doesn’t know what to make of it, but she knows it can’t be a coincidence.

“I’m okay,” she says numbly, pulling back to look the other girl in the eye. “One trip beyond space and time is enough for me, so I won’t be disappearing through any portals again any time soon.” She feels cold, and not the cold she feels from her wet clothes, but a cold that seizes her heart in an icy grip. Cora hopes Narissa can’t see the discomfort she’s trying to hide. She must not, because she continues on as if there wasn’t a dreadfully awkward pause.

“Well, I, for one, can’t wait to get out of here, so I’m glad you’re back,” she says, her cheerful tone not matching the fear in her eyes. Cora leaves it alone, not wanting to pry or upset her friend. Instead, she smiles back, hoping that it’s enough.

“So, Corona,” Landis pipes up, causing the girl to face him, questions surrounding Narissa pushed to the back of her mind, “where’s your mom? I pointed her in the direction of the black roots, and she just kind of took off. Did she find you?” Cora snorts at his question.

“What do _you_ think?” she asks rhetorically. “Of course, she found me. She’s the most determined person I know.”

“I can think of someone else who could give her a run for her credits,” he mutters, and Cora raises a brow at him, daring him to say that it’s _her_. He shakes his head, a half-smile on his face, and she knows that he doesn’t want to dig himself a deeper grave. She bumps her shoulder with his, laughing softly to let him know she’s only messing with him.

“My mum and dad are with my uncle Finn, presumably talking. I assume they have a lot to figure out,” she supplies, answering his initial question. Landis looks at her incredulously.

“I hope you know that you don’t get to breeze past that like it’s nothing,” he informs her. Even Narissa looks intrigued by Cora’s words, and Cora didn’t think anything could surprise her. “Can we backtrack a bit? Yeah, we’re going to backtrack a bit,” he declares, and Cora huffs out a breath in amusement at him. “I’m sorry, but I figured you would’ve immediately said that you succeeded in bringing your father back from . . . wherever he was, so forgive me for my shock.” Cora sighs, hugging her knees to her chest.

“I don’t know, I’m just not sure I can talk about it. What happened with my family, it was an experience I can’t describe, and even if I could, I’m not certain I would. It was . . . _intimate_ , on a spiritual level, and it’s something that just belongs to us.” Landis nods at her in understanding, but Narissa smiles sadly, and Cora thinks that’s the most emotion she’s ever seen on the girl’s face.

“I don’t remember my parents,” she confesses suddenly, and both Landis and Cora are blinking at her in shock. She sees their faces and realizes they’re waiting for her to continue, so she does. “They were killed before I could remember them, and there are no holographs. The people that raised me were . . . less than kind, so I decided to run away, and I’ve never looked back. I know what happened to them was awful, but the person responsible is dead anyway, so I try not to be too broken up about it.” She shrugs, and Cora can only blink at her in response. She’d suspected, of course, that Narissa had a less than ideal childhood, but she hadn’t guessed how bad it was. If Cora didn’t have her mum . . . no, she doesn’t even want to entertain the thought. She really needs to talk to her mum about letting Landis and Narissa stay with them, especially now. The ache in her friend’s chest is dull, but it’s enough that Cora can feel it.

“Narissa . . .” she trails off, unsure what to say, but she’s saved by her mother calling her name.

“Corona Solo!” She can hear the lecture in her mum’s voice, and she cringes as she braces for the onslaught. “Have you really been sitting out here in those wet clothes? You’re going to catch a cold!” Cora rolls her eyes, as she had assumed it was something worse than this. She twists her body away from the fire to face her mother.

“Oh, you’re one to talk, Mum,” she rebuts. “Your clothes are just as soaked as mine!” Her mother does not back down, crossing her arms over her drenched tunic.

“My spare clothes are on the ship at the bottom of the mountain. _Yours_ are in a hut several meters away. So help me, Corona, I will not hesitate to embarrass you in front of your friends,” she barks, and Cora drops her head in defeat.

“Too late,” she mutters, and Landis snickers beside her. Cora bumps her shoulder into him as she moves to stand. “Shove off.” She throws his blanket over his head, and that shuts him right up.

As she’s changing in her hut, she hears a commotion outside, and she quickly jumps into her trousers and throws her tunic on, neglecting her breast band as there really isn’t much to wrap yet, anyway. Her hair hangs heavy on her head with all the water weighing it down, and Cora already knows when it dries it’ll be a mess, but that’s a problem for later. Bursting through the door, she skids to a halt at the scene before her.

Cora’s mother has her lightsaber drawn up in defense, her father cautiously behind her, hands on her shoulders to keep her from charging. Cora follows her mother’s line of sight, falling on Narissa, eyes blazing as she stands her ground. Oddly, the first thought that Cora has is, _I hadn’t guessed Mother’s lightsaber would be yellow_ , and not, _My mother looks ready to chop one of my only two close friends in half_. Maybe it’s the shock, but Cora is perplexed by her own train of thought.

“What in the kriffing hell is going on here?” she demands, drawing every pair of eyes to her. She blinks, overwhelmed by the attention. They all stare at her, nobody willing to admit what led to this point. In the end, it’s Narissa who breaks the silence.

“Your _father_ ,” she spits, and Cora has never seen so much hate in her eyes, “is _Kylo kriffing Ren_ , and he’s the one who murdered my parents!” Cora isn’t sure she’s heard correctly, but once Narissa does not say anything different, she walks closer to the fire, renewed energy fueling her emotions.

“My _father_ ,” she retorts with just as much venom, “is Ben Solo, and he saved my mother’s life, as well as the whole galaxy alongside her.” Her eyes narrow at her friend, though it’s unclear whether they’ll be friends after this.

“His _face_ is in the holorecords!” the blonde shrieks. “I’m not kriffing blind, Corey! I’ve read about the attack where my parents were killed, and it states pretty clearly that _Kylo Ren_ and the First Order were responsible for it, all for some stupid . . . stupid Sith wayfinder!” Cora furrows her brow in confusion, but her father’s face flickers with understanding, and she gets a sick feeling in her stomach.

“On Mustafar,” he confirms. Narissa’s hardening glare says it all. “I don’t know who you think your parents were, but the people I killed to get that wayfinder were Vader-worshiping fanatics who were living in the past. I’m not going to tell you that what I did was right, but I’m not going to pretend they were innocent either.” He holds his hands up placatingly, but Narissa doesn’t budge. “You don’t have to live in the shadow of your parents,” he says gently, but this only makes her angrier.

“ _You_ don’t get to tell me how to feel!” she snaps, thrusting her finger forward. “ _You_ were not locked up for the first eight years of your life, fighting to stay alive! _You_ have not been constantly running for the past seven years! _You_ never had to wonder when your next meal would be! _You_ have always had _everything_ , and I have _nothing_ because you _took it from me_ ! You have your perfect daughter and your perfect wife and this perfect little family, and it’s not _fair_!”

“Rey isn’t my wife,” he interjects, but Narissa barrels on.

“I don’t _care_ !” she cries, yanking on the ends of her hair. Cora winces, as she knows that has to hurt. “For the first time in my life I had a _purpose_ , and you took that from me, too.” Narissa looks as wild as the storm in her eyes, and Cora wants to help her, she does, her friend is hurting, and maybe she can _save_ her!

“Riss,” she tries, taking a step forward, and Narissa meets her gaze, but the pain in her expression and the hand she holds up causes Cora to hesitate.

“Don’t,” she pleads. “Don’t look at me with your innocent eyes, Corey, because you can’t fix this. I know you want to, and I wish you could, but you can’t, so please don’t.” Cora looks at her friend, begging Narissa to let her in. She searches for a crack in her defenses, and once she sees an opening she slips in. Her mind is overwhelmed with so many memories, flashes of a red planet and looking out at the stars, and it _burns_ , the weight of it all, and Cora stumbles backward, gasping for air. Her head snaps up, and as her eyes meet Narissa’s something passes between them. Neither of them knows what it is, the frightened looks on their faces mirroring the other’s. Cora knows what Narissa is thinking, and she thinks she shouts, but no one around her reacts. Startlingly, she realizes that she called out _in her head_ , and Narissa . . . she _heard_ it.

_I’m sorry, Corey_ , Narissa laments through this strange connection, and Cora _aches_ as she knows what has to happen. She looks at her friend’s face, the fire flickering in her eyes, perhaps for the last time.

“Goodbye,” she chokes out, this time out loud, and everyone else looks at her in confusion, but Narissa is already disappearing down the mountain. Her mother is talking to her, but Cora blocks it out, closing her eyes, her body racking with sobs. She almost misses the sound of a ship taking off over her cries, but she feels Narissa’s own pain as she forces herself to leave, and her eyes snap open, sharp as ever, just in time to see the smaller ship her mother and uncle had come on zip away into hyperspace.

The connection falters, and Cora is brought back to reality. She blinks, a few more tears trickling down her cheeks, and she turns her head toward her mother. Rey looks at her with the eyes of a concerned mother, and Cora throws herself into her mother’s arms, seeking the comfort of her warmth, breaking down as the implications of everything that has happened wash over her. Her heartbeat pounds in her ears, and Cora focuses on that to keep her from passing out, but she’s just so _exhausted_ , and she remembers that Narissa once said nobody can be _all_ Light _all_ the time, and for once, she allows the darkness to pull her under.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fun fact: narissa was always supposed to leave cora, but it was originally much darker. i wanted her to have been raised on dathomir by some nightsisters, but i couldn't find a way for it to work into the story. narratively, mustafar works better, and that'll make more sense in the story following this one (assuming anyone wants one; i can stop after this one with a few changes to the ending, but there's more story to tell if people want to read it!). there was going to be a lightsaber battle, and she would've betrayed cora and stolen rey and finn's ship. the only parts that stayed the same were cora reaching into narissa's mind and narissa stealing the ship, though in this version cora kinda gives her persmission.
> 
> in other news, ben solo is Awkward. he really,,,had to point out that rey isn't technically his wife,,,bc he is That person. the discussion that is to follow is sure going to be interesting :)


	16. R E Y

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey struggles with her worries, and she and Ben talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello i am officially done with finals and i'm excited to be here. i wish i could promise more consistent updates but quarantine has made me Lazy. never fear, i am still heavily invested in this story and these characters and have SO MUCH planned,,,it's just getting to that "so much" that's the problem lmao. i always tell myself i know exactly what's happening but my writing likes to take on a mind of its own, so believe me i'm always just as surprised as you are by the final product. (which is never proofread,,,bc i'm a human disaster.)
> 
> anyway here is some angst sprinkled with fluff. i hope you enjoy :)
> 
> emotional music for an emotional chapter:  
> baby mine - georgia merry  
> just around the river bend - judy kuhn  
> ben and rey love theme - samuel kim

The panic that seizes Rey as her daughter’s weight collapses on her is a feeling she’s only ever had one other time. She sinks to the ground, brushing Cora’s damp, curling hair out of her face as she silently begs the girl to open her eyes. Ben is beside her - of course, he is, where else would he be? - and he’s cradling them both in his arms. Rey instantly feels safer, letting herself relax into his warmth. She’s still stroking Cora’s face, but it’s less frantic now.

“She’ll be okay,” Ben murmurs next to her ear. Rey turns her face slightly to meet his eyes.

“How do you know that?” she laments, and Ben gives her a small smile of reassurance.

“Because she’s like you,” he says softly, pulling her wet hair off her face and tucking it behind her ear. “Also, she’s still breathing, and I can feel her in the Force, and you probably can, too, so calm down.” Rey scrunches her nose at him, and Ben chuckles at the expression. Reluctantly, she releases her hold on Cora, letting Ben lift her as they both move to stand. She stares helplessly at the limp form of her daughter in her father’s arms, and she reaches out to grasp her hand. Cora doesn’t stir, and Rey begins to cry at the sight of her daughter, who has been her whole world for the past thirteen years, looking so lifeless.

The soothing brush against the barriers in her mind makes her look at Ben, and he’s silently asking her to let him in. Rey sighs, the lowering of her defenses such a relief, and Ben’s consciousness invades hers.  _ I’m here _ , his voice whispers in her head.  _ I’m here, and I’m not going to let anything happen to her _ . Rey looks at him sadly.

_ I’m afraid it already did _ , she responds regretfully, thinking of the way the two girls had looked at each other before Narissa disappeared and Cora dissolved into sobs. She would recognize the look of surprise at the thought of someone else in her head anywhere, because it is one she has felt on her own face. She doesn’t yet tell Ben this, though, because for the time being it is not the most important thing to focus on. Instead, she drops Cora’s hand, smiling slightly at Ben, and goes to collect the belongings her daughter left lying around in the hut her first Master once resided in. She halts in surprise seeing the lightsabers she buried on Tatooine all those years ago spilling out of the bag on the stone floor. It shouldn’t be shocking that Cora took them, but Rey didn’t even realize Cora knew they were there.

Shaking her head to stop her wandering thoughts, Rey collects the bag containing the sabers and a few stray articles of clothing. Seeing more items strewn about, she picks up the discarded breast band along with a blanket and Cora’s cloak. Whatever else she brought with her must be on the  _ Falcon _ , because the small room is now bare aside from the stone cot. Rey takes one last look at it before pushing through the creaky door and heading back toward the dying fire. She sees Finn and the boy she recognizes as Landis from the transmission, but there’s no sign of Ben or Cora. Her breath hitches, catching the attention of both boys, and their eyes widen at her fearful expression.

“Cora and Ben are fine,” Finn is quick to rush out. Rey nods absently, staring at nothing in particular. “Rey, they just went to the  _ Falcon _ . Ben said he wanted to get her out of the cold. I agreed to wait here for . . . Landis, is it?” The boy nods in affirmation. “Right. Yeah. Okay. He just had to grab a few things, but we’re all going to head back now.” Finn hesitantly touches her elbow, and Rey jolts at the contact.

“Sorry,” she dismisses, shaking her head. “It’s just . . . I worry.” She shrugs, biting her lip, and Finn snorts in response.

“You’re a mom, Rey,” he points out. “It’s your job to worry.” She nods, accepting his words, and follows him as he begins to walk down the stairs. Landis falls into step beside her, and she glances at the sandy haired boy in her peripheral vision.

“She’s going to be okay,” he says, and Rey looks at him curiously, unsure whether he’s trying to convince her or himself. She doesn’t press him, only humming in a noncommittal answer. “I just think everything that’s been happening maybe overwhelmed her. I get it, of course. Even though Narissa didn’t leave because of  _ me _ , she still left, and I - ” His voice breaks off, a strained sob tearing from his throat. Rey stops, lying a hand on his shoulder. He looks at her, his ocean eyes glassy with tears.

“It’s okay to cry, Landis,” she says gently, and his resolve breaks, tears spilling down his cheeks. Rey sees that he’s unsure what to do with himself, so she pulls him forward into a hug, letting his head fall on her shoulder. She knows what it’s like to have to keep her walls up and pretend that nothing hurts her, but she would’ve given anything for her mother or father to comfort her in times of trouble. If she can help at least one lost child feel like he has a place to go, then she’ll have felt like she saved someone from a life like hers.

“Why are you being so nice to me?” he sniffles, pulling away from her embrace. “You don’t even know me.” Rey smiles sadly at him. She sees her own childhood reflected back at her.

“Because sometimes you need someone to tell you things will be all right, and it looks like no one has said that to you in a long time,” she replies. Landis wipes at his eyes, attempting to compose himself. He continues down the stairs, Rey beside him, as he scrutinizes her.

“She’s so much like you,” he comments, and Rey almost laughs, this being the second time she’s heard that statement tonight. “Her kindness is . . . staggering,” he confesses, and Rey smiles warmly at him, knowing just how bright her daughter shines for her every day. “I wondered how someone could have such a big heart, but now that I’ve met you I get it. She only reflects the love that is given to her, and I never dreamed that anyone would think I was worth sharing that heart with, but she was the first person in years to look  _ at  _ me and not  _ down  _ at me. When I saw the way she looked at you, it made sense. You gave her that heart, a heart that is open and honest and makes you want to be the best version of yourself.” His eyes glance downward as he smiles bashfully, cheeks tinged pink that Rey can make out even in the dark. “I’d like to be the best version of myself,” he admits.

Rey looks at this boy,  _ really  _ looks at him, pondering on what her daughter saw when he and Narissa helped her break into Leia’s apartment. She wonders if Cora saw the seed in his chest, the promise of growth, waiting for someone to take a chance on him. Rey isn’t certain Cora had innocent motives in befriending Landis and his partner in crime, but nothing hinders her vision of the boy beside her. Someone took a chance on her, and she thinks she can do that for him, too.

“You don’t need my daughter to show you how to do that,” she tells him. “You just need to allow yourself the space needed to grow into that person.” Landis relents a genuine smile at that.

“Thanks, Master Jedi.” Rey makes a face at that title.

“None of that, please,” she says. “Just Rey is fine.”

-

After scavenging some leftover clothing from her different excursions on the  _ Falcon _ , Rey sets off for the fresher, knowing she needs to regulate her body temperature after the abrupt dive into the water below the island. Stepping beneath the hot water rushing out from above, Rey lets the last week, the last  _ fourteen years _ , wash off her and down the drain. Then comes the grief and the tears of what she’s finally able to let go, and Rey sinks to the floor of the fresher, her body shaking even as the water begins to burn at her skin. The rushing water mingles with her tears, and she closes her eyes, taking a shuddering breath in an attempt to compose herself. Stumbling to her feet, Rey vigorously scrubs at her skin, trying to erase the pain of the ghosts that surround her wherever she goes. Her body is red and raw by the time she stops, the skin of her fingers cracked and bleeding, and Rey takes another deep breath to calm herself down. She knows her scrubbing was in vain, but she just wants to be happy without all the heartache, and her heart  _ does  _ ache, even when she should be happy. She has Cora back, she has  _ Ben  _ back. The universe is  _ right  _ again, so why doesn’t  _ she  _ feel right? Perhaps it’s because all her life she’s only known pain, and even with her daughter as a bright spot in her life it’s never really gone away, but no one ever prepared her for what comes after. Everyone has told her she deserves to relax and be at peace, but she doesn’t know what to do with herself, and she isn’t sure she’ll ever know.

Rey shakes her head, stopping herself from spiralling any further. With shaking hands, she manages to dress herself, and then she’s off in search of bacta patches to dress the blisters forming on her fingers.  _ I may as well be wearing gloves _ , she thinks wryly as she secures the patches to her hands. They’re a mismatch of tan and white, but at least the angry red of the blood and blisters has been concealed. Flexing her fingers to make sure she can still move them with the bacta patches on, Rey nods to herself, pleased with the result. She places the kit of supplies back on the shelf she got it from, and then she makes her way back toward the crew quarters, where she’d sensed Cora.

The girl who is in her every waking thought lies on one of the bunks in the crew quarters, her breathing even, messy chestnut curls framing her face in a halo. Rey lets out a sigh of relief at the sight of her, knowing that she’s here and she’s safe. Rey starts toward her, squeezing in the small bunk and drawing her to her chest. Immediately she feels better, Cora’s steady presence easing the weight around her heart. Rey looks upon her daughter in a daze, propped up on her right arm, gently brushing her mess of curls with the back of her left hand. A soft smile stretches across her face, and even though things are less than perfect right now, Rey believes that it will all work out for once.

Ben leans against the entryway, just looking at them, and Rey flushes under his stare. Now that the whirlwind of the last several hours has settled, she has time to fully process everything. She isn’t sure whether she should feel embarrassed about the way she acted, first when she let herself get wrapped up in him and then when she practically  _ growled  _ at the blonde teenager who definitely wanted to hurt Ben, but he doesn’t look upset with her. Quite the contrary, he looks like she placed every star in the sky. No one has made Rey feel so beautiful in a long time.

Rey ducks her head, her hair concealing her widely grinning face, just about the same time Ben makes his way into the room. She’d forgotten how easily his presence commanded attention, how impossible he is to ignore, but he doesn’t look quite as large when he sits on a crate across from her. Rey cannot deny him any longer and looks up to meet his eyes.  _ Soft _ , she thinks, _ his eyes are soft _ . His face looks very much the same as the last time she saw him, and Rey blinks, realizing he hasn’t aged  _ at all _ . If anything he looks younger, all the pent up anger gone. He finally looks at peace, and Rey thinks she probably looks the same. She’s felt empty for so long, but somehow the stars aligned for them to find each other once again, and this time Rey is not letting go.

Her face softens as she looks at him fondly. “I missed you,” she whispers, and he smiles then, and it’s the same smile she sees on the girl beside her. She’s still running her fingers over her daughter’s hair, and Rey feels the bond that links the three of them together, the part of him that resides in her and Cora.

“I know,” Ben replies, and he must feel it, too. “I’m sorry. I saw you all the time, and you had to miss me for years.” He sounds regretful, like it pains him to think he put her through that. Rey’s fingers halt their path over Cora’s hair, and she reaches out to the space between them. Both his hands clasp her small one. Rey does her best to reassure him with a smile.

“I’m very familiar with missing people,” she tells him, though that only causes him to look more concerned. Rey chuckles, shaking her head; she’s not finished yet. “But this time I had someone to miss you with me. You told me I wasn’t alone, and you didn’t leave me alone, even when I - I was convinced otherwise.” She ducks her head down at that, willing herself not to cry. She’s done enough crying for a lifetime. Steeling herself, she meets his wondering gaze. “You left someone to love me, when you couldn’t be there to do it yourself, and I will never stop being grateful for that. She brought me back to life. I know she thinks I needed you, but she’s been saving my life every day for the last thirteen years, and she’s done it again, so I don’t have to miss you for the rest of my life.” His hands are warm over hers, and Rey thinks she’s shaking a bit. Ben looks like he wants to apologize again, but a withering gaze from her has him thinking twice about it.

He breathes out deeply through his nose, his hands dropping hers to run them down his face in contemplation. “Rey, I - ” he starts and then stops himself, his eyebrows drawing together. “I’m not very good with words,” he amends, and Rey snorts.  _ That’s an understatement _ . She doesn’t realize she projected that across their bond, but Ben lets out a short laugh. “Right, yes, you would know from firsthand experience.” Rey raises an eyebrow.

“ _ ‘You’re nothing,’ _ ” she intones at him, and Ben’s eyes widen before his face heats in embarrassment. She bursts out laughing at his expression, and she has half a mind to see if she’s disturbed Cora, but her daughter sleeps on, blissfully unaware of the words being tossed around by her parents.

“Ben,” she breathes out once she’s calmed down. “I’m not - I don’t hold anything against you. I haven’t since . . . since Kef Bir.” She was going to say since Leia passed, but she isn’t certain how sensitive he is about his mother. Rey isn’t certain about a lot of things concerning Ben, but she tries not to worry herself with that right now.

Ben gives her a bittersweet smile. “You can talk about her, you know,” he says gently. “My mother. I’ve had plenty of time to reflect on my past, and I’ve made my peace with it. I loved my parents, truly, and I know they loved me. Their love, and yours, made my choice to embrace the Light that much easier.” Rey nods, a relieved smile on her face, but it quickly changes to a frown when she thinks of how easy it was for him to use the Dark earlier that day.

“Ben, earlier . . . in the cave, and - and what you did with the mirror, you’re not . . . ” she trails off. Ben sighs, not meeting her eyes.

“No,” he finally admits, “but I’m not afraid of using it. That was the downfall of my uncle, of the entire Jedi Order. They believed that devoting oneself to the Light was the right way, the only way, but I think they forgot you can’t have light without darkness. It’s not about one over the other, it’s about . . .  _ balance _ .” He lifts his head, his eyes piercing into hers. “There was -  _ is  _ more light in me than I let myself believe, just as there’s more dark in you than you’d care to admit. It’s not a bad thing, Rey, but it can be if you ignore it.” He shrugs, and her lips press into a thin line at that, as she ponders his words in her head. She nods in acceptance, though unwilling to speak of her own lineage. Rey knows Ben understands that more than anyone, but even he could argue that his family was always destined for the Light. The Emperor . . . that man - creature - whatever he was . . . there was nothing redeemable in him. Rey once feared that she would be subject to the same fate, but she chose to write her own story, she chose  _ love _ , and the people she loves -  _ they  _ are her family. Still, it’s a comfort to know that Ben sees all of her, even her darkest parts, and he still chooses her. She supposes she does the same for him, but it’s different. Others have seen his darkness, but he’s the only one who’s ever seen hers.

Overwhelmed with emotion, Rey fumbles for his hands, drawing them to her chest as she blinks back tears. Ben moves his crate closer so that they’re only centimeters apart now. Rey sniffles as she tries to compose herself. “Thank you,” she rushes out, and he only blinks in surprise at her. “You’ve seen the best and the worst of me, and you never looked at me any differently.” He detaches his hands from hers, bringing them up to brush the tears off her face.

“You are, quite literally, the other half of my soul,” he reminds her, and she chokes out a laugh. “There is nothing you could do that would change the way I see you.” She kisses him then, because she doesn’t know what to say, because she loves him, because despite what he says he knows exactly the right words to break her down and build her up and make her whole.

“I wish the whole galaxy could see you the way I see you,” she confesses against his lips. He draws back slightly, his expression serene.

“I don’t need the whole galaxy,” he tells her. “I just need you.” Rey thinks she melts a little. Ben takes her hand, lacing their fingers together, his thumb rubbing soothing circles on the back of it. He glances down in confusion, just now noticing the bacta patches covering her fingers.

“Rey, what happened?” His tone carries worry, but she’s quick to brush him off.

“Oh, it was nothing,” she dismisses, but Ben’s brow only creases further.

“I can - ” But she knows what he’s going to suggest, and her stomach pools with dread.

“No!” she exclaims in fear, pulling her hands back and moving as far away as she can, which isn’t that far given that she’s already up against the wall of the bunk. Ben’s eyes widen at her outburst, and Rey’s cheeks heat in embarrassment, realizing she pulled away without an explanation. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she prepares herself to tell him just what caused her passionate exclamation.

“The last time,” she breathes, “you healed me, you disappeared. I . . . I can’t do that again.” Ben’s face softens in understanding.

“Rey,” he says gently, reaching out to grasp her hands once more, “this isn’t like last time.” He squeezes her hands in reassurance. “But if it will give you peace of mind, I won’t heal whatever is under those bacta patches.” She smiles gratefully at him.

“I know this is completely different,” she admits, “but I’m not ready for that yet. I just got you back. I’m not going to chance it.” Ben smiles at her sadly.

“There’s still a lot for us to learn about each other,” he acknowledges.

“There is,” she agrees. “But,” she continues, lacing their fingers together once more, “time will heal us.” Rey feels their hearts beating as one, and she knows that she’s already lighter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes, ben and rey did in fact share a passionate kiss with their daughter between them. no, i do not take criticism.
> 
> will cora ever wake up from her really REALLY long nap? will ben and rey ever not be idiots in love? where are bb-8 and r2-d2? find out next time, when our heroes reach their final destination: naboo!


	17. C O R A

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cora wakes up in a place beyond her wildest dreams with the people she loves most.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys. not gonna sugarcoat this: i've been dealing with depression the last month or so, and it took me awhile to realize it. it hasn't completely affected my connection to this story (or the others i'm working on), but it has definitely made writing harder. most of this chapter has been sitting in my word doc for the last month, but there was almost zero motivation to finish it. about an hour ago, tho, i read a comment that reminded me why i love this story and these characters so much, and suddenly the ending came to me <3
> 
> on a lighter note, i was very excited to get to naboo. it's probably my favorite planet in star wars, and it's home to one of my favorite characters: queen padme amidala. i had fun doing a bit of research about naboo and varykino and a bit about padme herself!!
> 
> i've been pretty steady with my chapter playlists but i honestly couldn't tell you what songs i wrote this chapter to.

Cora remembers dreaming. This time it’s not the island, or the raging red planet, or the cavern of flashing lights where her father fell as her mother watched helplessly. It’s not any place at all, really. No, Cora dreams of a person, a woman with sharp features, all angles, her hair pulled back from her face, drawing attention to the electric blue eyes with a storm building behind them. She wears a scowl on her terrifyingly beautiful face, and she paces in a dark room, a midnight cape flaring behind her. Cora can’t see anyone else, but she thinks she hears someone address her as  _ My Lady _ . Cora can’t imagine this woman belonging to anyone.

There are other snippets of the woman, and her face remains scowling in all of them except one. The one where she’s not scowling, she looks sad, the storm settled behind her eyes, and she’s dropped to her knees, the anger gone out of her. In this one, she seems more like a frightened girl than a woman, and Cora wonders who or what could make this woman fall apart. She doesn’t get the chance to find out.

Cora fades in and out of consciousness when they’re stopped on Tatooine - because there’s no mistaking the dry taste of sand in the air - but she doesn’t fully wake until she’s no longer lying on the bunk in the crew quarters. She runs her fingers over the duvet covering her and recognizes fine material, and she bolts up at the shock in the change of location. The room she’s in is inarguably the most beautiful room she’s ever seen, though Cora can neither fathom where she is nor how she got here.

Sunlight streams in through the many windows lining the walls, and the room is cast in a golden haze. Cora thinks for a moment that she may still be dreaming. She swings her legs over the side of the bed, her feet meeting cold marble as she moves to stand. Her fingers brush gauzy fabric, and Cora looks down to see a lace silver nightgown where her dirty tunic and trousers had been. Walking to the nearest window, Cora brushes her unruly hair out of her face to try to see where exactly she is. A glittering lake winks up at her, the orange light of dusk giving everything a romantic feel. Cora almost believes she’s in a fairytale.

The enormous doors at the other end of the room open, and a small young woman wearing an apron and a wrap on her head peeks around one of the doors. Cora whirls around, her wide eyes still trying to take everything in. The stranger clears her throat, and Cora peers at her curiously.

“I was just sent to turn your pillow, miss,” the girl says without making eye contact. Cora blinks at her in confusion.

“Turn my pillow . . . ?” she trails off quietly to herself. Then she looks up, addressing the young woman. “And that’s your . . . job?” she confirms. The stranger nods, and Cora brings a hand to her forehead. “You actually . . . get paid to _ turn pillows _ ? Are you mad? That’s actually the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard, and my family has its fair share of ridiculousness.” Cora shakes her head in disbelief, turning away so as not to say something she shouldn’t to the girl with only half her body through the doorway. Her eyes dart to the window again, and she pivots back toward the stranger.

“Where am I?” she demands. “And who are you?”

“Varykino,” the girl immediately responds, “in the Lake Country.” At Cora’s raised brow, she sighs, offering her last answer. “On Naboo?” she tries, looking at Cora incredulously. When Cora nods, the stranger continues, “My name’s Merian. I work for the caretaker of this retreat. No one has lived here in quite some time, only occasionally used by the Royal House of Naboo during the summer session, but the estate technically belongs to House Naberrie, and since a Naberrie finally decided to show up, I have a job to do.” Cora stares blankly at Merian, unsure what this has to do with her.

“You  _ are  _ a Naberrie, aren’t you?” Merian asks after a moment of silence. Cora only looks more confused. “The man downstairs in the sitting room descends from the Naberrie line, and he says he’s your father, so I just assumed . . .” Merian trails off, shrugging. At the mention of her father, Cora brightens, remembering that her family is whole once more, and she pads over to the other girl, a radiant smile lighting up her features.

“Would you mind taking me to him?” she prods hesitantly. Merian nods, and Cora squeezes her arm in thanks, though she doesn’t realize that the girl technically cannot refuse her. “I don’t know where I’m going,” she confesses sheepishly. Merian gives her a tight-lipped smile in understanding, choosing not to comment on the girl of nobility’s informal behavior.

The pair walk in relative silence down the hall, and idly Cora wonders where her boots are, the sound of her bare feet smacking against the polished stone echoing off the walls. Merian clears her throat, hazarding a glance at the taller girl.

“Forgive me for overstepping, miss, but you aren’t from around here, are you?” Cora bites her lip at the question, shaking her head bashfully.

“No, I’m afraid not,” she admits. “I can count the number of times I’ve even been to Naboo on my fingers. My mum wasn’t really big on change, so most of my life has been spent on Tatooine.” She shrugs, not wanting to get into specifics. Merian raises an eyebrow at her.

“Tatooine? You mean that hunk of sand sitting in the Outer Rim?” she questions in disbelief. Cora bites her lip, suddenly self-conscious.

“Well, yes,” she replies, wringing her hands together. Merian notices the nervous habit but doesn’t comment on it.

“And your father?” she asks instead, and Cora almost stumbles, caught off guard.

“What about my father?” she says back with her best disinterested tone. Cora isn’t sure how to explain the situation with her father right now, and she’s hoping Merian will drop it. She doesn’t.

“You mentioned your mom but not your dad,” the girl states plainly. “You didn’t say it in so many words, but I take that to mean that until recently it’s just been you and your mother. So . . . is he really your dad, or is he like your step-father or something? I’m just trying to make sense of why he showed up  _ now  _ when the war ended like fifteen years ago, not to mention he brings his daughter - you’ve been unconscious since you got here yesterday, by the way - who seems to have no knowledge of her lineage.” Merian’s tone is suspicious, and Cora is biting her lip so hard she may soon draw blood, but she can’t very well reveal the finer points about the situation with her father. “Just so you know, we servants like to talk,” the shorter girl throws out. “If you don’t tell me, we’ll make something up, and I can’t be held responsible for what the other noble families hear.” She shrugs in an almost helpless sort of way. Cora glares at her, feeling like she’s being goaded into sharing information that is no one else’s business.

“My dad,” she eventually bites out, “was . . . being held captive for the last fourteen years. My mum thought he died, and in her grief she decided to disappear to a forgotten corner of the galaxy. She didn’t know much about his family beyond his parents, and she was an orphan, so family is a bit of a sensitive topic with her. Recently, I had a feeling that my father was still alive, and I followed that feeling all the way to the Unknown Regions. When I found him, there wasn’t anyone I had to fight through, but he was still trapped without an exit, so with the help of my mum I managed to get him out, and then some other events played out that really have nothing to do with him or my mum and more to do with me, but they’re not entirely relevant, and I’d rather not talk about it . . . and now we’re here.”

“I don’t suppose those other events have anything to do with that dashing boy who arrived with you?” Merian slides in casually. Cora crosses her arms in defense, fed up with this girl’s inability to mind her own business. She doesn’t let the shock that Landis is still here cross her face, even though she didn’t expect him to stay, as there was nothing keeping him on Naboo. Cora tries not to dwell on it too much.

“He’s just a friend that helped me rescue my father,” she dismisses. Merian nods absentmindedly.

“Duly noted,” she replies. Cora wonders what this servant girl thinks she’s piecing together, because there is no way she could possibly figure out the whole story. While she did share more than she planned with Merian, Cora doesn’t believe the girl beside her knows all that much about her family. She herself barely knows anything, so there isn’t really anything she could divulge. (She supposes she knows that her father used to be a disciple to the Dark, but she figures she can keep that one to herself.)

Cora’s eyes rake in every centimeter of the rooms they pass through, not quite believing that this place belongs to her family. They round another corner, and the walls open to a grand view of the lake, rolling hills in the distance. Her breath hitches at the sight, and her pace slows as she gazes out at the horizon. Merian looks back when she realizes Cora is no longer beside her. She walks to the stone railing, her hands dropping onto it to support her weight.

“I’ve never seen anything so beautiful,” she confesses, still staring at the landscape beyond the estate. Merian goes to stand beside her, large green eyes peering at her in curiosity. Cora meets her stare, and she’s struck with the thought that her eyes match the grassy hills surrounding the lake.

“Well, if you stay here, every night is like this,” the girl reveals, and Cora’s eyes water at the idea that this could be her life. She turns back toward the lake, her hair swaying to hide her face.

“Last week I led a simple life, the daughter of a humble farmer, but this . . .” she trails off, sighing wistfully. “I never could have dreamed of a place like this. I didn’t know I could fall in love with a place, but I suppose if a person could fall in love with any place it would be this one.” Cora doesn’t mean to make the girl uncomfortable, but Merian looks at her oddly, clearing her throat awkwardly.

“Right,” she says after a moment. “Well, I should probably be getting you to your parents now.” She backs away from the railing, picking up the pace as she walks down the stairs. Cora follows behind her with a new skip in her step. She wasn’t sure about this place, and she knows there’s still more to see, but it starts to feel like home, though Cora is a bit uneasy with the luxury of it all. She isn’t sure she’ll ever get used to it.

Merian leads her into what Cora assumes is the front of the house - though she determines “house” to be a gross understatement - and the lake is once more obscured from view. Cora’s spirit dims a little, but she focuses on seeing her parents. Merian disappears into a room to their right, and Cora follows her, nearly walking into the girl until she realizes her companion has stopped. She lifts her gaze, seeing her parents relaxed on a blood red sofa. Cora blinks, noticing that they’re both in different clothes, and she wonders if there was some sort of shopping trip she missed out on. Her father looks much the same as he did before, the only difference being the blue trousers with a white and red accent and the brown boots, but her mother is wearing  _ colors _ , which Cora isn’t sure she’s ever seen. A lovely lilac dress - a  _ dress  _ \- is accented by a sleeveless white cloak and matching tights with delicate slippers that match the dress. It’s a simple outfit, she supposes, but she’s so unaccustomed to her mother looking so . . . well, feminine! Cora feels incredibly inferior to the woman across the room.

“Mother,” she states in her bewilderment, drawing her parents’ attention to her. She swallows under their gazes, making her way to them dazedly. “Mother, you’re wearing a  _ dress _ !” she hisses incredulously. Her mother ignores her, though, in favor of sweeping her into a fierce hug.

“You gave us quite the scare, Starlight,” she says breathlessly, and Cora feels guilty for forgetting what happened prior to her waking up here.

“I’m sorry,” she laments, voice cracking, squeezing her mother tighter. “But it  _ hurt _ , Mum.” Her mother brushes over her curls gently.

“I know, Starlight,” she consoles. “And I will help you in any way that I can.” Her mum draws back, hands on Cora’s shoulders, a warm look in her bright hazel eyes. “How are you feeling, darling?” Her fingers lightly brush Cora’s cheek. Cora smiles at her mum, appreciating her worrying for what it is: love.

“I’m fine now, Mum,” she assures, and Rey’s face breaks out into a relieved grin. “I just want to enjoy being with my family now.” Her mum’s expression softens in understanding.

“Of course, love,” she promises, guiding Cora to the sofa, where she is suddenly squished between two doting parents. Cora scrunches her nose at the attention.

“ _ Mum! _ ” she whines, trying to twist herself away from her parents but finding it seemingly impossible because they are on either side of her. “I said I wanted to spend time with you and Dad, not be smothered to death.” She pushes herself to her feet, whirling around on her parents. They smile sheepishly at her.

“Forgive us, sweetheart, but you’ve been unconscious for five days now. We’ve been worried since the second night on the  _ Falcon  _ when you didn’t wake up,” her father informs her. Cora frowns, shoulders slumping, not realizing she’d been out that long. She sinks to the spot between her parents, lost in thought remembering the dreams and visions of the cold woman.

“It didn’t feel that long for me,” she confesses, pulling on her curls absentmindedly. Her parents look at her sympathetically, waiting for her to continue. After a moment, she does.

“The dreams I had all revolved around a woman shrouded in darkness. She looked lonely. I’m not really sure what she has to do with me, but I wanted to help her,” she reveals. Her mother reaches out, softly stroking her hair.

“Of course, you wanted to help her, darling; that’s who you are,” her mum reminds her. Cora bites her lip, unsure whether her mother’s assessment of her rings true.

“Cora,” her dad says gently, causing the girl to meet his eyes, “you are the most selfless girl I know. Your mother is right. Your compassion is one of your greatest gifts. Never apologize for it, okay?” He waits for her to nod before pulling her into a warm embrace. Cora buries her face in his sweater, selfishly wanting back the time lost with her father. His love is a steady beacon she wishes she’d had her whole life.

Cora tries to grumble her assent, but it’s muffled by the black fabric. She isn’t all that worried about responding, instead focusing on finding a comfortable position to relax against her dad. Her feet tucked behind her, Cora closes her eyes, beginning to soak in the comfort, but not even a moment later she feels her mum drop her head on Cora’s shoulder, her mother’s smaller body draped over her own. Cora attempts to twist around, but she’s caught in a tangle of limbs.

“You know,” she comments, a sly grin taking over her face, facing no one in particular, “this feels an awful lot like smothering.” Her mum snorts, and she can feel her dad’s chest rumbling with laughter.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, her parents release her so that they can properly face her. Cora looks between their faces, wondering what to say.

“I have so many questions,” she confesses. They nod in understanding, waiting for her to start. “I guess I’d like to know how I’m apparently a descendant of some noble family of Naboo?” Her father shifts at her question, and Cora’s eyes flit to him.

“Technically,” he says, clearing his throat to conceal his amusement at whatever he’s about to reveal, “you’re a descendant of  _ two  _ noble families of Naboo.” Okay, Cora decides, now she gets why her dad was trying to tamper down his laughter, for her sake and apparently for her mother’s if the withering glare that scathes him is anything to go by. He sobers after a moment, some kind of communication passing between her parents.  _ That’s starting to get annoying _ , she thinks. Her father’s eyes focus back on her. “But this estate belonged to my mother’s birth mother, who was a queen and senator of Naboo. Her family stopped using it after she died, according to official records. I don’t really know much myself, other than pivotal moments in time that I saw in . . . visions.” Cora frowns, confused at his hesitation, but she looks over her shoulder to see Merian posted at the archway. She figures it’s best that her father doesn’t mention out loud that he was in a place beyond space and time. He continues as if nothing has happened. “My mother didn’t find out about her birth parents until I was about twenty three, at which point I was training with my uncle, so I’ve never been here. My parents and I . . . we had a bit of a falling out after I found out via the holonet that my grandfather was Darth Vader. I only found out through the -  _ visions  _ who my grandmother was. I wanted to take your mother somewhere that’s green, though, because I know how much she loves places that are alive. I immediately thought of the Lake Country when your uncle mentioned in passing that he lives on Naboo. I did a little research, and I found that if I had proof to declare myself a Naberrie, I could assume residence here.” Cora furrows her brow in confusion.

“How did you find proof if all you had were visions?” she queries. Her father gives her a wry grin.

“You’d be surprised what astromechs have stored in their memory banks,” he says cryptically. Cora assumes he means R2-D2, because she knows the droid has been in her family for quite some time, and she’d never found anything on her family in BB-8’s memory bank - and she did spend a long time trying to find some piece of her family’s history in there. She selfishly wishes her mother had brought Artoo with her instead, but the better part of Cora reminds her that BB-8 has looked out for her all her life, and she supposes there’s really no harm in learning about her family  _ now _ .

“Wait,” she backtracks. “I know you said this estate belongs to  _ your  _ family, the Naberries, but you also said I descend from two noble lines, so what’s the other one?” The room goes quiet, and after another intense staring match between her parents, Cora’s mum answers her.

“The Palpatines,” she whispers resignedly. Cora looks at her parents for an explanation, but her mother doesn’t seem to want to elaborate, and her father keeps giving her mother an accusatory look.

“Look, I think I’ve come to terms with knowing my father and his family have a history with darkness, so what’s one more? I’ve read about the war you were in; I know he was the embodiment of darkness or whatever. I don’t love Dad any less,” she implores. Her mum frowns, eyes closed. Her father reaches across Cora to grasp her mother’s hand. Rey takes a shuddering breath.

“It’s not . . .  _ him _ ,” she relents. “Your father isn’t a descendant of the Emperor. I am.” Cora’s eyes widen in shock.

“ _ What _ ?” she blurts out. “But . . . but why didn’t you tell me? You’ve known about this my whole life, haven’t you?” Her tone voices the betrayal she feels. She doesn’t really much care that either of her parents have darkness in their families, but the fact that her mother told her she didn’t know anything about her family because she was abandoned on Jakku is what bothers her.

“I’ve never told anybody,” her mum defends. “The only people that know are either dead or sitting in this room. I couldn’t . . . I couldn’t admit it to anyone, especially not you. Cora, when I look at you I see everything good in the galaxy, and when you would look at me with your bright hopeful eyes, I couldn’t take that from you. You’re thirteen years old. I know you sometimes take on more than you can bear, and our family’s complicated history . . . it can be a lot, and I wasn’t going to put that all on you. You don’t have to grow up so fast, darling.” Her mum’s hand brushes her cheek, and it’s then that Cora realizes she’s crying.

“But . . . but you didn’t have to . . . h-hide it from me,” she sniffles. “I love you, Mum, and there is nothing that could ever change that.”

“I know that, love, I do,” her mother consoles. “And it has more to do with me than you. Accepting the darkness in me . . . it’s hard, and I thought it would be easier to ignore it. Without your father, I was unbalanced, which is one of the reasons I cut myself off from the Force. But now that we’re both here, we can help you see the benefit of the Dark and the Light.” Cora frowns at that.

“I’m not frightened by the Dark,” she clarifies, pulling away from both her parents. “I mean, okay,  _ maybe  _ I was at first, but eventually it didn’t seem so scary, it just seemed . . .  _ lonely _ .” She shrugged, turning to face nothing in particular. “I know that darkness cannot exist without light and whatnot, but it’s more than that. The Dark isn’t seeking to squash out the Light. It’s . . . it’s a balance,” she realizes dazedly. Cora looks back to her father. “And you know this. The way you used the Dark not in anger or hate but to feed the Light.” He nods at her words, the tiniest smile on his lips. There’s barely concealed pride in his gaze. Cora smothers the part of herself that positively preens at the praise. Her head is spinning with this new knowledge and what to possibly do with it. “There’s so much for me to learn.” She sighs, deflating a little at the thought. Her dad chuckles.

“Well, sure there is, sweetheart,” he agrees, a bemused grin on his face. “I’ve got years of training on you, but you’ve got the right idea. You have it more figured out than the Jedi ever did, though, so don’t sell yourself short.” She offers him a grateful smile.

“Thanks, Dad,” she relents, letting herself sit back down. Her head rests on the back of the sofa, and she closes her eyes, breathing deeply through her nose. After a moment, Cora sits up, shooting her father a sly smirk. “So when does my training begin?” Ben Solo’s eyes dance with mirth as he laughs quite loudly at that.

“Ask your mother,” he tells her, and Cora wrinkles her nose at the non-answer, turning to face her mum.

“Mum?” she hesitantly broaches. Her mum doesn’t look at her, instead glaring at her father.

“Oh, sure, let  _ me  _ make all the big decisions,” she accuses. Her father only shrugs.

“You seem to have done a decent job the last thirteen years,” he points out. Her mother narrows her eyes, beating her father with a throw pillow.

“Because you weren’t there!” she reminds him, but there’s no real bite behind it. Cora raises both eyebrows, wondering if either of her parents is ever going to answer her. Her father sighs dramatically in surrender.

“All right, all right, I guess I can start pulling my weight,” he gives in. Then he looks at Cora mischievously. “How does now sound, Cora?” Her eyes widen briefly before she’s nodding, a brilliant grin stretching across her face. Her father takes her hand, darting out of the room with her in tow. She can hear her mother’s shrieks through the halls as she laughs all the while.

“Ben Solo!” The exclamation reaches them as they pause for a moment, but as soon as they hear Rey’s voice they’re running again. Cora is having so much fun she begins to forget all the heartache she lived with before this, but she supposes she doesn’t have to worry about feeling that way ever again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter turned out longer than initially planned and still managed not to cover everything i wanted, so i decided to split it in half. (the solo family demanded more attention than i anticipated.) next chapter is more cora-centric, focusing on her friendship with landis (and her new one with merian) and you'll see her spend some time with finn, rose, poe, and (yes!!) uncle chewie.


	18. C O R A

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cora learns some lessons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> rip to me disappearing for five months. sorry it was the depression lol.
> 
> i also adopted a puppy (my sweet baby rey <3), went back to work, then school, then got promoted at work, so it's been a whirlwind five months haha. i haven't forgotten about this story, despite what my lack of updating may lead you to believe; i've just been overworking myself to the point where i have no energy to sit down and write, and when i do write it's just been nonstop papers for my classes. but the semester is almost over, so i'll hopefully be able to finish this by early/mid-december. (that's the goal anyway!! i'd like to finally start writing the sequel i've been planning for months haha.)
> 
> for my comeback, a chapter playlist:  
> home - kristen bell  
> when will my life begin - mandy moore  
> i seek the truth - kristen anderson-lopez, patti murin

Cora begins to fall into an easy rhythm. Every morning, she wakes with the sun, making her way to the valley beyond her new home to practice forms with her father and then mediation with her mother. Occasionally, she can goad Landis into sparring with her, but most times he declines under the influence of her father’s burning stare. Even his rejection, though, has become a part of her routine, so she brushes it off rather easily, and she asks again the next day on the off chance that he’ll say yes. Her life has become quite simple, letting herself go through the motions. Most days she doesn’t even think of Narissa.

They don’t talk about her - Narissa. Cora only thinks about her when she’s with Landis, but she hasn’t worked up the courage to speak about that night. She isn’t sure she ever will. She knows Landis is certainly happy to pretend it never happened. Cora can’t possibly forget any of it, though, because it changed her life in the best and worst ways.

They manage to keep busy enough that Cora can pretend that everything is fine most of the time, though. In addition to the lessons with her parents, Cora and Landis attend classes in Theed with other people their age. Her father had offered to take over her education, but she had begged to attend a real school, insisting that she needed friends. Landis hadn’t been any help, the suck up that he is, ready to agree to anything her parents said. Sometimes she thinks he’s still a little starstruck.

It had been her mum, surprisingly, who sided with her on the matter, claiming that she shouldn’t be shut up in this house all day. Her mum usually has the final say, since she raised Cora by herself all these years, and because her dad is helpless when it comes to her mother.

Cora doesn’t very much care what got her here, so long as she gets to continue coming every day. She particularly enjoys her galactic studies courses, finally learning the unsaturated truth her mother had tried to shield her from. She aimlessly scrolls through her datapad as her teacher prattles on about the Galactic Civil War. Admittedly, Cora already knows a lot of this, mostly thanks to her grandmother’s old datapad with countless documents, a number of them confidential. She’s never been able to access those, but that’s probably for the best. No matter how curious she is, the secrets of the New Republic aren’t meant for her eyes. Cora supposes whatever information they hold isn’t even relevant anymore, anyway.

She sighs, slouching at her desk, trying to focus on the lesson still going on. Uninterested eyes glance at the holo playing in the front of the room. An interview with her grandmother comes into focus, and Cora blinks in shock. She never realized how much her dad looks like his mum. General - then-Senator - Organa speaks about the Rebellion’s efforts in defeating the Empire, launching into a detailed plan of how it will take a galaxy-wide effort to restore it to its former glory. Suddenly there’s a new holo of Leia Organa and her brother Luke Skywalker, and they’re announcing that Luke will soon be training a new generation of Jedi, and Cora feels sick as she remembers how that played out. The holo clicks off, and she shakes her head to rid herself of the horrible train of thought.

Cora can’t get out of the room fast enough once they’re dismissed. She’s so distraught she can barely pay attention in her politics class, which she abruptly decides is now her favorite class because at least her family isn’t at the focus of every lesson. At least here, she reasons, no one glances at her whenever one of her family members is mentioned. She almost makes it through without having to speak until Aerice Qol points out that Cora once had family in politics.

Cora glowers at the back of the girl’s copper head. She knows Aerice means well, but Cora wasn’t really looking to be the center of attention today. Perhaps this was what her father had been concerned about in letting her attend a proper school.

Then, like an angel out of the darkness, Taryn Rune says offhandedly, “I don’t see how that has any relevance to Nabooian government.” Cora could kiss her right now!

Aerice shrinks in her seat, nervously pulling on her hair. “I just thought she might have a different perspective since she’s familiar with different planets’ policies,” she mumbles. When everyone turns to look at her, Cora vehemently shakes her head.

“Oh, no, I’m afraid I don’t know all that much besides a few notes here and there left on my grandmother’s datapad,” she dismisses. This is apparently the wrong thing to say, as Aerice’s face perks up when she mentions her grandmother.

“Your grandmother?” she inquires. “But wasn’t your grandmother senator of the Alderaan sector? Surely you must know something!” Cora really wishes Aerice wasn’t so interested in politics.

“Yes,” she confirms. “But I’ve never met my grandmother. She died before I was born.” Cora knows that saying this generally makes others uncomfortable, so she’s hoping they drop the subject.

Like she expected, most everyone looks away from her, but Aerice only softens her expression apologetically. Cora tries not to grimace under the sympathy thrown her way.

“I’m sorry about your grandmother. I don’t mean to pry, but I would love to talk politics with you more sometime, if you wouldn’t mind. I know you’re still new, and it can’t be easy joining us halfway through the term, so I could get you caught up to where we are now,” Aerice offers. Cora knows she should accept the proposition, but she can’t help still feeling a little annoyed about being called out in front of the class. Still, she reasons, she does need more friends, as somehow she thinks Merian and Landis won’t be much help when it comes to assimilating with the other students, what with Merian being fairly quiet outside of the estate and Landis being homeless with one friend for the better part of the last ten years.

So she finds herself nodding, replying, “I’d like that. It does get quite lonely at the house in the Lake Country.” Aerice raises an amused brow.

“You travel back and forth from the Lake Country to Theed for school? Surely if you have a retreat in the Lake Country your family could afford an apartment in Theed for the autumn and spring sessions.” She doesn’t say this with any malice, but Cora can’t help but feel embarrassed.

“My family is very private,” she admits bashfully, not wanting to get into the specifics of keeping her father separate from the general public, if Narissa’s reaction was anything to go by. No need to repeat a scene like that.

Aerice shrugs dubiously. “If you say so, Cora.” She turns back toward the front of the room, and the lesson continues on as if their conversation never happened.

Cora breathes out a sigh of relief when the class ends, ducking her head to avoid eye contact as she maneuvers through the throng of students and out to the front steps to meet Landis. When planning to attend school, she forgot to account that Landis is older than her and therefore not in any of her classes, so she doesn’t see much of him at school, but they always spend their lunch hour together, most days electing to eat at her aunt and uncle’s house.

Landis is already waiting for her when she reaches their meeting spot, and his lips quirk up in amusement when he sees her. “What’s got you so quiet? I feel like I can never get you to stop talking,” he teases. Cora glowers playfully at him.

“First of all, that’s you,” she deadpans. “And secondly, let’s just say I got more attention than I would have liked in my classes this morning.” She begins walking down the stairs, not waiting for him to follow her. Landis takes a few long strides to reach her side, slowing then to match her pace.

“Hey, no need to be so allusive,” he chides good naturedly. “I know family history is a bit of a sore subject with you.” Cora feels bad for being so dismissive, since Landis has never been anything short of understanding. An apologetic smile flashes across her lips, and Landis’s face softens to let her know he’s not upset with her.

“I never thought it would be so hard,” she confesses in place of an apology. “I was so lonely for so long that I thought being surrounded by people would be the solution, but if I don’t really know any of them then it’s just a different kind of loneliness.” Landis listens attentively, never interrupting her. He hums in acknowledgement, then reaches for her hand and squeezes it.

“I don’t feel all that lonely,” he replies, but Cora gives him an unimpressed look.

“That’s because everyone loves you,” she counters. “I’ve literally never seen you not surrounded by people at school. It’s a wonder I’m even able to steal you away for lunch.” She huffs a bit at that, but she doesn’t know if she’s jealous of the way people are drawn to him or the fact that his attention at times is not centered on her. Cora tells herself it’s the former, because she would never lower herself to such feelings over a  _ boy _ . Even if she admits that she has become quite fond of said boy.

“Maybe so,” he concedes, and Cora does little to conceal her snort, “but none of them know anything about me. The only person I’d consider my friend is you, and maybe that servant girl who always hangs around you.” Cora tries not to let his words go to her head; she doesn’t need to rise so high just to be knocked down.

“I don’t mean to take any of this out on you,” she finally says by way of apology. “I just wish it was easier for me to move forward and live a normal life.” At this, Landis snorts unabashedly.

“Yeah, okay,” he says sarcastically. “Good luck with that, Corona. You’re literally a product of the Force, descended from the most legendary family in the galaxy. I really don’t think you were ever meant to live a normal life.” Cora frowns at that, realizing she never thought about it like that.

“A fair point,” she acknowledges, “but you have to consider it from my point of view. You see two of the most powerful Force users, but I just see my parents. Despite what you and the rest of the galaxy may think, we’re just another family wanting to live together peacefully. If I let legacy define me, I’ll never know who I am, so who says I can’t live by my own terms? And if I want a normal life, so be it.” She’s resolute in this statement, unwilling to budge. Landis raises his hands in surrender.

“All right, all right!” he chuckles. “I stand corrected, I guess.” Cora grins triumphantly, and Landis shakes his head at her in amusement. Cora leaves him without a reply and takes off across the street, racing him the rest of the way to her aunt and uncle’s house, laughing all the while.

-

“You better eat all of that,” Rose Tico remarks at her, but Cora only rolls her eyes in exasperation at her aunt. Rose will have none of that, though. “I mean it. I don’t want an angry comm from your mom later that I’m not feeding you enough. She’s still a bit jittery about being separated from you, and quite frankly I don’t really blame her, so for her sake and mine eat up.” Cora blinks in surprise at the stern tone. She’s never seen her aunt so upset with her before.

“I wasn’t starving when I was on my own,” she rebuts in defense of herself. Rose crosses her arms as she raises an unamused brow at Cora. Landis shifts uncomfortably in his seat as he casts his eyes downward, keeping himself out of the budging argument. Cora doesn’t blame him;  _ she  _ doesn’t want to be part of this conversation, even though it’s about her.

“And that very well may be true, but your mom doesn’t know that, and considering the life she led before she became entangled with the Resistance and the Skywalker-Solo-Organa family, it’s not a stretch to believe she’d be worried about your wellbeing,” Rose counters. Cora is silent at that, her mood suddenly sour. She won’t meet her aunt’s gaze, sadness and shame eating her up. Then she hears a chair creak and a sigh from her aunt, her hand squeezing Cora’s shoulder.

“I’m not trying to upset you, Cora,” she starts gently. “But I also don’t want to sugarcoat anything with you either.” Her hand drops from Cora’s shoulder, falling to the table and twisting with her other one. “But you should realize your mom is putting up a front with you. It’s less to do with you and more to do with her, but she doesn’t want you see how worried she is because on the surface everything is great: you’ve got your whole family now, your life is more stable than it’s ever been, and you’re living on one of the most beautiful planets in the galaxy. Really, what else could you need?” Cora can tell that this is rhetorical, knowing there’s more before her aunt continues speaking. “But - and there’s really no nice way of putting it - you did run away from home, and that’s not something your mother is soon to forget. I know your heart was in the right place - if initially spiteful - and your mom does, too, but she’s a very vulnerable person, even if she doesn’t seem like it. Maybe it’s because I’m a mom myself, but trust me on this. Just try to ease her mind a bit.”

Cora does her best to think her aunt’s words over as she chews her food. True, her family is happy, but there’s still a lot for them to work out. She has a feeling that she will have to be the one to broach the subject, though, because her parents don’t seem that keen on upsetting her. It won’t be an easy conversation, but Cora needs it needs to happen for her mum to fully trust her on her own again.

“I’ll work on it, Aunt Rose,” she promises after she’s finished her lunch. Rose smiles softly at her, brushing her cheek.

“I know, sweetheart, you always do the right thing,” she acknowledges. As she stands to leave the table, she pauses, tilting her head in thought. “Well, eventually,” she adds with a wink, leaving Cora and Landis alone in the kitchen. He clears his throat, drawing her attention to him.

“I know you’re already stressed about school, but is everything okay with your parents? Is there something I missed?” His voice is wrought with concern, and his expression is very serious as he looks at her. Cora sighs, dropping her gaze, her right hand drawing patterns on the table with her fingers.

“On the surface, yes, everything is wonderful. I love spending time with my parents, and I know they love spending time with me, but I don’t think any of us have really acknowledged how drastically our lives have changed within the past few months. I mean, stars, my father wasn’t even really  _ alive  _ three months ago, and now we all live in my great-grandmother’s summer home like it’s what we’ve been doing our whole lives. As much as I hate to admit it, my aunt Rose is right. There are things my parents aren’t telling me, and considering all that I’ve been through, I think I can handle whatever it is.” She doesn’t know why she tells Landis all this. It’s probably more of an explanation than he asked for. But perhaps subconsciously this was all eating away at Cora, and she just needed to tell someone. Landis nods, processing all she has to say.

“Maybe it’s them who can’t handle it,” he offers, shrugging. Cora frowns, eyes flitting up to meet his in confusion. “Just . . . hear me out: maybe whatever it is they aren’t telling you is something they themselves have not even come to terms with,” he explains. Cora slumps back in her seat, dumbfounded. She supposes that could be true, but she herself is guilty of buying into the narrative that her parents are invincible, so she had never even considered it as a possibility.

The pressing confrontation with her parents eats at her for the rest of the day.

-

Cora nervously peers into her parents’ room after dinner. Only her mother is in there, sitting in the center of the bed in what Cora assumes is meditation as she floats a meter or so in the air. She shakes away the awe at her mother’s raw power, forcing herself to remember why she’s even bothering her mum in the first place.

“Mum?” she sends out hesitantly, feeling a bit guilty for disturbing her concentration. Rey’s eyes blink open, and a wide grin stretches across her face as she regards Cora as she lowers herself to the bed.

“What is it, darling?” Her mum’s arms open in invitation, and Cora’s face relaxes at the term of endearment. Leaving the doorway, she crawls up the bed into her mother’s awaiting arms. Cora stares out the window at the setting sun, steeling her nerves to say what she came to say. Sucking in a breath, she forces herself to speak.

“Mum, we need to talk about what happened,” she rushes out. A wave of relief washes over her now that the statement is out there. Realizing she should explain, she continues, “I know that I hurt you, but the secrets you’ve been keeping hurt me, and I don’t want anymore secrets between us, total transparency. I trust you, and . . . and you trust me.” Her last request is a bold one, and it’s the closest she’ll come to acknowledging her mother’s anxieties out loud.

Her mum’s arms slacken their hold on her, and Cora turns to face her, concerned that her mum has retreated into herself. She’s both relieved and saddened by the pained look she sees. Cora doesn’t say anything, waiting for her mum to gather her thoughts. When she does, Cora isn’t certain she’s going to like what she hears.

“Before I start, I want you to know that my upbringing was drastically different than yours, so I’m hoping you can withhold judgment until the end,” her mum prefaces. Cora supposes it’s a valid request and one she can abide by, so she nods. Her mum draws in a deep breath, a bittersweet smile on her lips, before she begins.

-

Cora listens to her mum for the better part of an hour. She already knows a great deal of what her mum tells her, just from her own studies, but it feels a lot different from her mother’s point of view. She always thought she would be ready to hear the full truth from her mum, but nothing can prepare her for the story as her mother describes it.

“And that was in the span of a  _ year _ ?” Cora questions in disbelief. Rey nods, her expression showing one of exhaustion from recalling some of the worst moments of her life.

“Yes,” she confirms. “Sometimes I think about what would have happened if I had made better choices, but I don’t think I would have done anything differently. My life, as it is now, is always as it was meant to be.” Cora frowns, thinking about her own choices.

“Is that why you weren’t more upset with me for running away?” she asks hesitantly. Her mum smiles softly at her.

“Cora, I will never fault you for finding your father,” she reassures. “But you did break my heart when you left me. I never had parents to help guide me as a mother, so I’ve only ever done the best that I can when it comes to you. When you ran away, it felt like I’d done something wrong, that I wasn’t enough.” Cora’s throat tightens at her mother’s words, tears pooling in her eyes.

“You were always enough for me,” she chokes out, sniffling as she wipes her eyes. “I never expected you to be perfect. I just wanted you to be honest with me.” Her mum sighs, eyes downcast.

“Cora, love, I don’t think you realize how hard it’s been for me to be honest with myself. I’ve spent a long time trying to figure out who I am, and I’m still finding new things out about you, about myself, about your dad. It was never about whether or not I trust you; I’ve always trusted you. It’s just that even I am not sure of the whole truth sometimes, so I wouldn’t even know what to tell you, but I would never intentionally keep anything from you.”

“What about with Dad?” Cora counters, and her mum winces a bit at that.

“That was more for your protection than anything else. Sure, I was scared you’d hate him when you found out who he was, but I was more concerned about you being targeted for being his child,” she explains. Cora keeps herself from pushing her mum further, as she supposes it does make sense, and if she wants her mum to trust her it has to go both ways. Sighing, Cora wraps her mum in a tight embrace, tucking her head under her chin.

“I love you, Mum,” she mumbles into Rey’s chest. Her mum strokes her hair, kissing the top of her head.

“I love you, too, Starlight. Do you feel better now?”

Cora smiles as she closes her eyes. “Yeah, I think we’ll be okay. We always are.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter did not turn out the way i originally planned, but i think i like this version better haha. and after this chapter we're taking a break from cora and focusing on our favorite messy star-crossed lovers <3 until next time!!


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